Background

I am a retired neuroscientist, with a passion for fine detail, a result of many years of research using a variety of microscopes, including electron microscopes. These days, the passion for detail is channeled into drawings, watercolours and etchings of plants and animals found in Australia, with a special interest in the endemic species of Tasmania.

My interest in drawing and watercolours started as a child, spending many Sunday afternoons, drawing and painting. I have continued to draw, using pen, ink, and watercolours ever since.

In 1991, I undertook a year of part-time study in watercolour, with the Australian artist Owen Thompson at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney. I love the combination of pen and ink with colour, so it was not surprising that I gravitated to printmaking. I studied etching with printmaker Seraphina Martin, at the School of Fine Arts (University of Sydney), followed with 2 years at the Laurel Street Art Centre, Willoughby, mentored by the artist Mieke Cohen. Following my retirement from the University of Sydney and moving to Kettering in 2001, I have been able to devote more time to my artistic interests. Since then, I have taken part in several small group exhibitions in Tasmania: with fellow artists Kate Mills and Jane Marris (Meadowbank Gallery); with David Hopkins (Morning Toast Gallery); and in 2008 with long time friend and ceramicist, Bunty Mitchell, at the Off Centre Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre. I also exhibit at a number of local exhibitions, and as an invited artist at Art at the Point (Dennes Pt) exhibitions.

In 2008 I was commissioned by the Understorey Network to produce a series of 12 detailed black and white drawings of native plants and invertebrates typically found in the central North and North East regions of Tasmania. These drawings, which help identification of each plant or animal, are now printed on the front of each region's Plant Species Information List. A set of 6 drawings from this body of work, travelled throughout Tasmania during 2009 as part of a travelling Botanical exhibition managed by the Tasmanian Regional Arts organisation.

In 2010 I participated in the Over the Edge Exhibition, a collaboration between Hunter Island Press and the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. I was partnered with Prue Bonham from the Marine division and produced a series of dry point etchings entitled Plankton Series. One of the prints, Hairy Friends, Bacteriastrum sp. was chosen for the cover of the catalogue.

In 2011 I was part of the Periodic Table project for the International Year of Chemistry, doing etchings for three elements, Chlorine (Cl), Gallium (Ga) and Technictium (Tc). A collaboration between chemists and Tasmanian printmakers to produce an artistic impression of the IUPAC approved 2010 Periodic Table. The result is displayed on the Chemistry Resource page of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute website (www.raci.org.au/periodic-table-on-show). The assembled table is currently touring Australia and New Zealand. A poster of the periodic table will also be distributed to schools throughout Australia.

Each year, in addition to full size works, I produce one or two limited editions (20) of miniature etchings of Tasmanian native plants and/or animals mounted on cards.

I have a special interest in artist's books and handmade paper, combining watercolours, etchings and pressed flowers with the books. I have been experimenting with making my own paper, using Tasmanian wild grasses.I have incorporated the handmade paper in a large book of watercolours, depicting the flowering cycle of the Bushy Yate (Eucalyptus lehmannii), from bud to senescence. I also use my handmade paper in small books and miniature prints.

My work can be found in private collections in Australia and overseas as well as Tasmanian Galleries, Lovett Gallery (Cygnet) and Saddlers Court (Richmond).