Welcome to my blog!
In my dad’s words, I am chuffed to have you visit, so thank you 🙂
Family tree calligraphy and my convict ancestors
I spent about six months in 1994 drawing up this family tree for my mum. She had done all the research over many, many years, the slow and painstaking way, long before anyone dreamed up ancestry.com! It was before my now adult children were born. I worked Monday to...
Standing up for my watercolour floral friend
I drew this a couple of months ago. I really enjoyed the process, the experimenting and then playfully adding polka dots just for the fun of it. I never shared it because there was such a mixed reaction from a few people - it is something you either love or hate...
Edinburgh – urban sketching through the red velvet curtains
When Beth googled "magical places in Europe" to visit during our big adventure, I noticed a shift in my thinking. It wasn't just castles that seemed magic, but it was like there was some indefinable sparkle in the air where almost anything seemed special. I suppose...
Drawing during the brownie ban
It's a bit rough when you are just trying to support your teenage daughter's future as a pastry chef and she bans you from touching the chocolate brownies that are sitting on the bench. Especially when she has just called for help in setting up a brownie photo shoot...
Happy Carers Week 2016 – free poster of carer strengths
Please note that this poster was available for a limited time until 22 October 2016. Signed prints are still available through my print shop. Happy Carers Week 2016 to all those family members, support people and unpaid carers who do so much for others. Thank you....
Video of my Clairefontaine sketchbook – still urban sketching through Europe
Six weeks into our European adventure I started my second sketchbook - a huge achievement for me as I have never filled a sketchbook so fast - or at all really, if I am honest! It was a bit tricky getting used to the skinny, wide landscape format of the Clairefontaine...
Video of my golden sketchbook – urban sketching through Europe
Ok, so my Strathmore mixed media journal isn't really made of gold, but the metallic paints meandering over the cover and the gold edges inspired by illuminated manuscripts have given it something of a reputation as a golden sketchbook. This was the first sketchbook...
Oh the possibilities! A painting for the Boroondara Stroke Support Group
Like life, this painting started as an unknown, a blank canvas full of promise. It went through its ugly and difficult stages, bloomed slowly and unexpectedly bit by bit, adapting and changing to the odd challenge thrown its way. It dug in its roots, clung firmly to...
Urban sketching at Bodiam Castle, East Sussex – the land of knights
“Castle!” calls my daughter from the back seat as we round the bend in the highway. It is our third day in England and we still can’t believe that castles and medieval churches seem to pop up on the landscape every few minutes, interspersed by Tudor buildings and...
Urban sketching in Robertsbridge and the land of my ancestors
My mum was a very keen genealogist, and long before the internet she spent years researching our family history in person, gathering birth and death certificates, visiting cemeteries, hand searching shipping records and writing letters to potential relatives. It was a...