The movement of brush marks and the immediacy felt in painting are as important to me as the subjects I paint. My work begins outdoors, exploring the connection nature has with our reflective spaces. Light and colour have become my language to express an inner space, deeply felt through an intuitive response to the landscape.

There is a rugged beauty in the bushy coastal landscape where I live in South Gippsland. It’s a beauty that reflects strength, endurance and vulnerability - in the twisted branches shaped by coastal winds, the intricate micro worlds of shape and pattern in plants and the majestic, ancient rock formations.

Light is a key subject in my paintings. As a child I would watch light move through dappled shadows. These memories remain with me now and connect me to a calm, internal and reflective space.

I am drawn to high contrast in the light and dark and the subtle shifts within these. Light and colour are woven together in painting, similar to sounds in music. Quiet or loud, there is a constant exploration in my practice to balance the pull and push of colour.

Initial gestural marks keep me connected to intuition and the energy felt by being in the landscape. There is a sense of urgency - something ingrained early in my practice from life drawing classes. A selectiveness comes later, when I begin to simplify to the essential energy of a place. I flick between the representation of what I see and the presence of what I feel in the landscape. The challenge is to find the balance between these spaces. Being present in nature, I believe, is sacred and spiritual - where there is life and connection to the creator of life. The landscape here offers such a precious source of inspiration and I honour this space, to be present and listen through all the senses, with the hope of bringing that energy through my work.