The ‘Out of the Blue’ journey

Growing up in small town Australia afforded me the delights to roam freely with neighbourhood friends. We'd venture down to the river, run bare foot, build dens and spend as much time as humanly possible in the great outdoors. Growing up, going to University and working my first Interior Design job in Adelaide I still savoured the great outdoors, succumbing as often as I could, to the wide open skies, smells of the sea, rustle of the dense bush and delights of the hills and wine regions. Still today, when I return home to see family and friends, those big open skies, bleached summer days and distinctly Australian sounds and smells are some of the parts of my home country I miss most.

Today I’m lucky enough to call the marvellous, and ever vibrant city of London home, and for the last 20 years have spent my days working in the world of commercial Interior Design, designing, delivering, working with my clients and teams to deliver spaces that go beyond what clients first thought possible. It is, as ever, a fine balance between, functionality, good aesthetic, mixed with seamless technology and people always at the heart of every design. Thoughtful considered design has the capacity to fill our hearts, eyes and senses to the brim, and the same can be said for art, whichever the style or aesthetic you might fancy, it has the ability to sink in and stay with us. In the words of the great Mr Picasso, 'Art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life.'

A desire to travel and see the world was a dream for as long as I can remember. Inspired by a mother who, still today, has been to more countries than all her children put together, an adventurous father, who loved nothing better than to get out into the bush and climb up a mountain and a myriad of other family, teachers and friends who would come back from their travels with tales of pyramids, colour and wild adventures. As often as I can I've jumped on planes, in cars, on trains, or boats, by foot, or pedal and escaped the vibrancy of my big smoke city in search of new skies, different smells, cacophonies of sound, wondrous new sights and friends. Any opportunity to find a new adventure and beat a path less travelled and I’m there.

So that brings me to my art and in the long sun filled days of 2020, I joined a bunch of fellow abstract artists in a weekly class, resorted to Zoom, for obvious reasons. My appetite for painting, after such a long time, was restored. Those continued classes and a wealth of ongoing adventures; the vibrancy of cities, the depth and wonder of the great outdoors and the colour and wonder of markets, people and life, continue to inspire and influence my painting. Bringing colour, bold strokes and texture to paper, linen or canvas and building on the lessons learnt from my wondrous art teacher and fellow artist friends and family.

So now it’s time to share some of that colour, texture and adventure personified through my paint brush, with all of you!