ARTIST BIO

My passion is to play with fabric. I love the texture, the colours, the possibilities. This love was born when, as a small child guided by my mother, I learnt to sew. I believe that everyone has a creative gift which, when they discover what it is, will bring them joy and fulfilment and be a blessing to others. 

Most of my skills when it comes to sewing are self-taught. In the early years, I sewed my own and my children’s clothes and tried many different crafts. For many years my focus was on quilt making. Because I loved this and wanted to share my passion, I started a group in 1988, teaching patchwork and quilting. This group has seen many people learn this skill and it continues to meet after 35 years. I can easily lose track of time in my studio experimenting with different techniques with fabric - creating quilts and quilt patterns, wall hangings, fabric collage, images with felt and fabric, using hand and machine embroidery, machine thread painting to name just a few.

Once I retired from full time work, I had time to dedicate to new ways of working with fabric. I discovered the beautiful thread painting of Sophie Standing through doing one of her on-line workshops in 2020. Her work inspired me to develop my skills and create machine stitched artworks of Australian birds and animals. I am keen to use my art to bring awareness of endangered Australian species and have donated a percentage of any sales of endangered wildlife pieces to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

To create this art,I sketch or trace the selected image onto a painted canvas. I then layer patterned fabrics over the main image and free motion machine stitch with a darning foot to create the depths of colour, shading and shapes which make it look realistic.

In August 2022, I exhibited some of my pieces in a group exhibition, Form and Function, at Pepper Street Art Centre in Adelaide during the annual SALA, (South Australian Living Artists) festival. In May 2023 I was Artist of the Month at the Pepper Street Shop, Magill, Adelaide and more recently exhibited at the 2023 Blackwood Rotary Art Show and the 2023 Nature Festival in Adelaide.