“I was raised in an artistic environment, my step-mother being an art teacher at a girl’s college in Kent, England. I was a shy child and became a quiet observer of the people and the interactions taking place around me. I found myself wanting to draw and paint the human form together with, what I perceived to be, the underlying emotions behind the exterior. My family travelled a lot and we lived in, and visited, a variety of countries. Due to the constant travel, I was exposed to different cultures, religions and art which broadened my interest in the unique artistic expressions of these cultures.
“One of the biggest motivating factors for me to pursue a career as an artist occurred when, as a young adult, I decided to live and work in Germany for a few years. The initial year there was a culture shock because I could not speak the language and many of the customs were new to me. Expressing myself was challenging and, even though I was living and working in a busy city, I felt isolated and found that I had to study peoples’ responses and body language on a far deeper level. This led me to question ‘identity.’ Without the full ability to verbally express myself, I began to paint my feelings of isolation. Some of these paintings were popular and were gifted to or sold to people in my immediate circle of friends and acquaintances. Discovering that my art was popular at that time was a boost to my self-esteem and encouraged me to continue and pursue a career as an artist. At that time, these experiences became my themes in the form of artistic expression and I believe that they are still relevant to my paintings today.
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