For some strange reason my love of wetlands, ponds, and all things to do with these type of habitats began at a very early age. I use to grab my Mums tupperware containers and spend hours creating pretend ponds with plants and weeds which obviously were not necessarily aquatic however they fulfilled my dream vision of what the landscape should look like. In addition to the plants I would find tadpoles

(most likely mosquito lave), snails and anything else which I assumed would happily hang out in my miniature water world. Being an only child of  artistic parents meant drawing and exploring nature was a big part of my daily life. I was always happy to hide within our garden absorbed by my own imagination. Our suburban back yard  was my dreaming place and this is where I believe I began observing the beauty of natures offerings.

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When the summer holidays arrived a big group of family and friends would meet each year to camp by the Murray River in Victoria. My childhood was full of fun and activities along the rivers edge. I was never a child who spent time at the beach instead I experienced the wild and rugged environments of the Australian bushland.  I was always surrounded by the shadows of large gum trees and their reflections upon the water. I was captivated by the trees which were semi immersed in the water and the dancing shapes of leaves and branches bathed in the light of our nightly camp fire. Through my eyes I saw a landscape beyond the distant views of the horizon line instead I saw a multitude of shapes and shadows of the tree roots and the way in which they connected to each other. I would notice the differing layers of soil colours and grasses which lined the edge of the embankment. This was the beginning of my own translation of these habitats which have shaped my love of art and painting today.