About me

Who are you?

I’m an explorer, not an astronaut or deep sea diver but someone who likes to explore the unknown through paint and mixed media. My parents went to Peru as missionaries when I was 9-10 years old and this had a big impact on me in many ways. A new place and a new culture so different from Scotland and Northern Ireland. It was exciting so much to soak up and learn. This ignited a desire to travel and explore and be more open to living in different places.

Have you always painted?

No. I qualified as a registered general nurse in the late 1980s and moved from Belfast to London for work. I met my husband there and started a family. I came across an alternative therapy called Touch For Health Kinesiology and became a TFH practitioner. I also studied horticulture and gained my RHS level 2 exams and started a small gardening business. However, this all changed when my husband was offered a job in Dubai, so we relocated with our two children and another on the way and stayed there for seven years.

Did you garden in the Desert?

Although there are amazing horticultural feats in Dubai I didn’t pursue that there. Instead, I learnt Reiki and as a result, started painting and learning about intuitive art. I was fascinated by what would appear when I just turned up and followed the marks. I exhibited in cafes and group shows and had a stall at an art and crafts fair called Arté that brought together a lot of creatives in a mall in Dubai. It was fun. I also kept learning about alternative therapies and became a Reiki Master/Teacher and an Access Bars facilitator. However, my real love is painting and mixed media.

Where do you live now?

We returned to Northern Ireland in 2014 and lived there for four years. During that time I continued to paint, develop my practice and exhibit and commission works. In 2019 we moved again, back to England to a small village outside Peterborough where I work from my studio at home.

What is Intuitive Art?

There is a great definition by Dean Nimmer from his book, Art From Intuition that sums it up:

Attempting to draw or paint with thoughts in your mind like ‘is this picture going to be any good?’ or ‘when will this drawing be finished?’ is a sure fire way to shortcut your intuitive creativity… The panacea for this problem is to allow your instincts and intuition to take full control of the creative process. In order to learn this essential skill, you have to be completley engaged in the creative process itself (without thinking about it) for the process to work. (refence)

I see it as a practice, strengthening an unseen muscle, trusting yourself and the process.

What inspires you?

Place inspires me, moving, uprooting, replanting, and exploring. What happens in daily life, conversations and ideas. All information and sources from drawing and painting. I mainly use acrylics, paper, collage, pastels and stitch. Other artists that I find inspiring are Wangetchi Mutu, Flora Bowley, Olaf Hajek, Omar Ba, Frida Khalo, Matisse, Karishma Chugani and Orly Avineri to name a few. Books that inspire me are Art As A Way Of Knowing by Pat B. Allen, Life Passion and Paint by Michelle Cassou, The Artists Way by Julia Cameron and books by Monique Roffey.

Where have you exhibited?

Arté - Dubai - 2012-2014

Battletown Gallery - Newtownards (various group shows) - 2015-2019

Destiny Gallery - Belfast - 2015

Blackstaff Mill - Belfast - 2015

Haptik - Newtownards - 2016

Castle Espie - Newtownards - 2019

Peterborough Cathedral - Peterborough - 2023