Biography
Born in 1952, I have been interested and involved in the arts from an early age.
Academic Qualifications
1971 - 1974: Diploma in Art Education [dip. Art Ed.] from Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education, and the National Art School, where I majored in both painting and ceramics.
Teaching and Commercial Art Career
1975 - 1976: Art teacher at Wagga Wagga High School.
1977 - 1978: Painting teacher for Adult Education Department at Riverina College of Advanced Education. Also taught painting privately.
Set designer for the Riverina Trucking Company, a subsidised theatre company for the Riverina College of Advanced Education.
1979 to 1981: Worked as a commercial artist for Grace Brothers, Pty Ltd, and News Ltd in Sydney, as well as exhibiting paintings at the Barry Stern Gallery in Sydney.
1982: Return to teaching at Kogarah high and Hurstville high school as a casual art teacher.
1983 to 1985: Gained a permanent position at Bankstown Girls High School as an Art Teacher.
1985 to 2012: Awarded a transfer as an Art Teacher to Coffs Harbour High School.
2010 - 2011: Taught a painting class at the Woolgoolga Art Group Gallery.
Prizes and Exhibitions
1977: Selected as a finalist in the Archibald Prize for ‘Portrait of Don Chipp’, leader of the Australian Democrats (pictured top).
Highly commended for ‘Stone Lady’ painting at Wagga Wagga Council Art Gallery (pictured below).
Group show at the Cottage Gallery in Wagga 1977.
2004: Selected as a finalist in the Country Energy Art Prize with a painting titled ‘Coffs Coast Hinterland’. The best 10 works were selected from this exhibition and hung in the Sydney Opera House Gallery for three months in that year.
2004 - 2007: Exhibited paintings and pottery at the Lake Russell Gallery at Emerald Beach near Coffs Harbour.
2009: Exhibited with a fellow artist, Gayle Sparks, at the Art Shop Gallery in Coffs Harbour.
2004 - 2010: Involved with various exhibitions in the local area, such as The Bellingen Art Prize, the Emsla Stilll Life Award, the Grafton Drawing Show and other local shows.
2012: Received Highly commended for a painting called ‘View from Above’ in the landscape section of the Woolgoolga Art Show.
2015 - 2016: Solo exhibition over Christmas, called People, Places and Politics at The Art Factory Gallery in Coffs Harbour.
2017 - 2018: Group show called ‘Destination Dorrigo’ at the Waterfall Way Gallery in Dorrigo.
2019: I won the landscape section of the Lillipilli Exhibition at the Woolgoolga Art Gallery with the painting called ‘Man versus Nature’.
During my time as an Art teacher I have actively sought to promote drawing, which I believe is the basis of all art. ‘If you can't draw, you can't paint’, and you can't sculpt. However, I majored in painting and ceramics at Art School, and my work is now moving towards combining painting with 3D sculpture, especially slip cast ceramics, papier mache and artists’ modelling compound, which I hope to exhibit more in the future.
