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MY STORY

Since the first day I could string a sentence together, I’ve been telling stories. As a child I used to make them up.. A vivid imagination that had no off switch from the back seat of our old red Chrysler Valiant towing the family caravan. My dad had a lust for travel – he would pack the caravan to bursting with delicious food for our road tripping adventures across South Africa and its borders. It was a carefree and sociable childhood that set me up to be the person I would become. Independent, adventurous and completely in love with life’s journey.

Life for me is just that.. A journey.. To faraway places; of continuous learning; of life’s highs and lows; of truly meaningful connection with others.

After rewarding studies in both drama and theater crafts, where I fell in love with English theater and mime, I took to the roads of Europe in a trusty old VW Kombi which we revamped out on the street in North London with a bed, a sink and a stove . It was life changing in so many ways. For over a year we slept in parking lots, fields of foreign cows, and among truckers and gypsies. We traveled to remote beaches, up the tallest mountains and castles and into lush green valleys… I think one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to ‘go places’, to experience life within and beyond your borders.

My art too has been enriched over the past 30 years by adventures exploring diverse cultures.. Meaningful trips to Europe, Morocco, Guatemala and Bali have a way of weaving their way into my earlier ceramic pots and I love how the work evolves as I do.

Throughout my career as an artist, brand designer, entrepreneur, and gallery owner,  I’ve learnt so much from so many and made lifelong friends along the way. Now Art making is what I do, everyday. 

After selling up our home and businesses, we were free to work from where-ever we choose.  So 2021 was spent in the remove village of Riebeek East in the Eastern Cape where I fell in love with goats and giraffe. This enriching experience changed the narrative of my art and connected me to ‘place’.

Currently, we reside in The Cotswolds, UK with my studio based at Lansdown Art Studios in Cheltenham… A place that inspires an urban industrial influence contrasted with the surrounding rolling fields of sheep grazing amongst ancient oaks. 

 

Enjoy the free download of  ‘MEETING THE SMITHS’ .. Images, poems, recipes, paintings & stories from my little village in the middle of nowhere – Riebeek East 2021

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