About Me

My illustration career began back in the days before computers, and armed with a degree in graphic design from the London College of Printing, I landed a job as an in-house illustrator for Quarto illustrated book publishers in London.  Those were the days when people actually employed full-time illustrators.  There were about half a dozen of us who had to quickly develop skills and styles to both compliment each other and to suit a large variety of books, which could be anything from ‘The Movie-makers Handbook’, to ‘The Complete Book of the Horse’. Having this ability to adapt has stood me in good stead. 

In the late eighties I began working  freelance, and when the first of my 2 children came along  I found the subjects I was illustrating mirrored my own life as I worked on several books on pregnancy, childbirth, child-care and then books for children, experimenting with a looser, more playful style.

After a few years in the Middle-East, still working on children’s books as well as experimenting with new mediums of oil paint and oil pastels, I moved to Australia. I began teaching drawing and watercolour at a private school in Sydney, and after further design studies, I went on to teach at the School of Colour and Design.

For the next 10 years I lectured at Billy Blue College of Design, teaching students the fundamentals of visual communication. I focused particularly on the use of different mediums, techniques and the elements and principles of design, to heighten visual awareness and appreciation, and develop the imagination.  They say if you want to learn something - teach it, and happily teaching enabled me to thoroughly update my knowledge of design history, computers and printing techniques. 

I am currently living in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney and am lucky to be part of a vibrant creative community in an awe-inspiring landscape.  I have a beautiful light-filled studio overlooking my bush garden where I work on my illustrations and painting projects.  This also serves as a therapeutic space for my practice as an Art Therapist.