I’m a lucky woman. I live on the bank of a river that winds languorously through a marsh to the sea. My summers are shared with geese, ducks, heron and gulls, visible from my deck and kitchen windows. Cows graze in the field across the river and Mavillette Beach is a pleasant walk away.

 

My studio is located in my barn during the warm months, in my house for the cold months. During the winter there are fewer birds, the cows leave the field (I pretend that they all spend the winter in the barn) and the summer people withdraw like a receding tide. My productive hibernation begins. For many years, in the past, I spent winters in Boeblingen, Germany with my husband, Dieter, before he passed away in 2019, but now I stoke the fire in my woodstove and relax.  

 

As a Gemini, the duality of this summer/winter lifestyle is appealing. My favourite pastimes of reading, writing and painting are possible. I think and I play, often allowing humour to seep into both writing and painting. 

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I’ve raised a family (2 girls and a boy) and I’ve worked most of my life to support my art, for many years in banking, commercial printing and later as a landlord as well as buying, renovating and reselling houses. 

Art school was never a possibility for me so I am largely self-taught. I have always applied the principle, ‘do the best you can with what you have to work with and more will be given.’ If you live long enough the small gains will accumulate. I have lived quite a long time. My advice to anyone who feels compelled to create, ‘go for it but only compete with yourself’. If what you do today is better than what you did yesterday, then you are successful.