I often get asked how I started as an artist.
The truth is I’m not sure.
I think I’ve always been an artist at heart…. I’ve just tried really hard to cover it up!
I was born and raised in the beautiful bushveld of South Africa, which I’m sure helped inspire my passion for wildlife and nature. This love for animals led me to a fascinating and rewarding academic career in biology around the world; majoring in Zoology and Entomology in South Africa (BSc Hons), a PhD (Sweden), and then an academic researcher in Australia for 12 years, specialising in behavioural and evolutionary ecology.
Looking back I realise that I’ve always had a creative streak, even if I wasn’t aware of it at the time. As a child, I would write and illustrate my own stories, and made pottery hippos and other animal characters that I sold for pocket money. During my undergraduate university studies, I did numerous scientific entomological illustrations for scientific papers and books.
Indeed, throughout my academic career I experimented with various creative activities, ranging from painting, ceramics to sculpture and metal welding. It was during one of these creative bursts that I tried mosaics at a local Saturday morning class in Australia… and I guess I caught the mosaic bug!
I currently reside in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands of South Africa.
I share my studio (and home) with my two beloved rescue blondes, Joey and Jassie.
In 2016 I sold my first mosaic… and within a few months I had a full-time business and growing commission list.
My development as a mosaic artist has evolved unintentionally. I started out working with ceramic tiles, slowly incorporating more and more stained glass as I began to experiment and create more detailed and realistic work. Indeed, experimentation has been, and continues to be, a fundamental part of my development as an artist, and I am continuously developing new techniques, approaches and materials to remain fresh and innovative.
My mosaics have won awards...
and found homes all around the world in private homes, businesses and
luxury game lodges.
