Welcome to my journal!
Here, as a professional watercolour artist, I share my personal experiences and inspirations that shape my creative process.
Through my blog posts, I provide insights into my painting techniques, my behind-the-scenes life as an artist, and everything that influences my work. I am excited to share my journey with you and invite you to join me as I explore the world of watercolour painting.
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Have you ever woken up with a sense of dread, feeling as though the weight of the world rests on your shoulders, anticipating a mountain of problems awaiting your attention? That was my reality every morning. Opening my email, I was greeted not with the promise of a new day, but with a heavy sense of foreboding.
Read MoreI'll be honest, those early days were filled with frustration. Watercolour, with its own set of rules and techniques, was a tough teacher and progress was slow. The lessons of light to dark, the permanence of each stroke, and the acceptance of "happy accidents" were hard-learned. I found myself creating pieces that, well, let's just say they wouldn't have made it to the fridge door.
Read MoreCreating a successful painting by following a tutorial is one thing, but being able to replicate that success independently, drawing upon the skills and knowledge acquired from those tutorials is another.
I'm happy to share that a significant number of my students are able to achieve precisely that. In fact, I am consistently impressed and extremely proud of the artwork they produce on their own. They, too, take great pride in their achievements, and rightfully so.
Read MoreTo save you from these pitfalls and help you achieve better results, I've compiled a guide that focuses on the five most common mistakes that I have come across when painting in watercolour. The guide is completely free when you subscribe to my newsletter.
Read MoreI spent two days painting some cows in a paddock. Now don’t get me wrong, I like the cows but the landscape part of the reference photo……..meh.
As a result, I ended up with 5 overworked, muddy and poorly composed paintings. The only part of each painting that I liked was the area around the cows.
Read MoreI was very happy to receive an email from The Art of Watercolour Magazine’s editorial staff saying they wanted to feature my work in their upcoming issue.
The editor sent me a list of questions to answer, which would be featured in the magazine alongside my artwork. Answering the questions was a great opportunity for me to reflect on my journey as an artist and share my insights with the readers of the magazine.
Read MoreWe’ve moved back home! After four years of living in Sydney, Dom and I have come back to our house in the country. I am amazed I lasted that long in the city.
Read MoreOf all the subjects I love to paint in watercolours, my favourite is flowers. I started painting them in 2015 and one of the reasons I love to paint them is that it's easy for me to gather reference material.
Read MoreAs an artist, I'm always on the look out for good reference material. I often visit zoos, wildlife sanctuaries and botanic gardens with my camera in hand hoping to catch as much useable material as I can.
Read MoreThe one thing that keeps me going every day, and it brings tears to my eyes to talk about it, are my watercolours. Being able to paint with watercolour every day is an absolute joy. Whenever my brush is in my hand, my paints are beside me and that velvety textured watercolour paper is in front of me I am in my happy place. When I paint, I forget about my problems and I forget about the way the world is now. I escape into a beautiful world of water, colour and shapes.
Read MoreSomebody at Skillshare emailed me last year and they asked me if I'd like to consider filming some online classes for their platform. I gave it some thought and decided that I would give it a go.
Read MoreArtists create for different reasons. Some want to make people aware of an important issue such as animal conservation or a social issue such as body image.
Read MoreI discovered some little fluff cuteness bundles in the park the other day.
Read MoreLast weekend Dom and I headed out of the city and made our way to Bowral in the beautiful Southern Highlands of NSW.
Read MoreI have been adding some salt to my paintings lately to create texture. Adding salt can also be helpful for correcting mistakes :)
Read MoreWell that was fun. I started this painting today and I finished it 3 hours later. That's not like me. I fuss and fiddle and sometimes take 3 or 4 days to complete a painting.
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It's raining today in Sydney and I can't hear it on the roof. That's one of the things I don't like about living in Sydney. I can't hear the rain when I'm inside. Another is the traffic. The relentless bumper to bumper battle whenever you want to go anywhere in your car.
Read MoreI recently tried painting a Chrysanthemum on Ampersand's Aquabord. Aquabord has a textured clay surface. The finished painting is varnished and doesn't need to be displayed behind glass. It's quite different from painting on watercolour paper. It gives you the ability to lift underlying layers off easily to create highlights.
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