2. I spent a year on student exchange in Sweden when I was 17. I went to a Swedish school and I saw snow for the first time. I was also voted ‘Sankta Lucia’ by my school which is a little like being voted prom queen…I had to wear a real burning wreath of candles as a crown a red sash, I re-enacted the role of Saint Lucia by bringing light to the town. I walked through the whole town with the entire school trailing behind me on Saint Lucia’s Day which is a festival celebrating the coming of light. Lucia means ‘bringer of light’. It was an amazing experience.
3. I like listening to podcasts about astronomy and will often tune in when I paint. What I listen to and the way I feel in any given day seems to show in the shapes and colours I make.
4. As well as a painter, I’m a Textile Designer. Printed pattern is my favourite and patterns usually find a way into my artwork as well.
5. One of my clearest creative childhood memories is of learning how to make a basket out of reeds. We had a houseboat holiday on the Murray in SA and mum taught us how we could use the reeds to fashion them into an actual useful thing. I was totally absorbed by it. This trait in me is still strong, I can become obsessive and absorbed and hard to reach.