We love seeing what Kiwis are up to around the world. How long have you been in Canada and what first drew you there?

I’ve been here for 12 years now, it feels like a dream. I ended up here by accident. I had a visa for America and spent a year there on the West Coast, and when my visa ran out, the flight to Vancouver was much cheaper than to New Zealand.

I fell in love with it - it’s a beautiful country and similar to NZ in a lot of ways, lovely people and incredible scenery.

When did you first start painting? Have you always been involved in the visual arts or did you initially head down another career path?

I definitely took a lot of tangents. I have a masters in Architecture, I love designing and drafting, and after working in the industry for several years I ended up doing interior design. This lead into construction management as well as set design for film, some graphic design, but nothing felt right and I didn’t know why.

After my first daughter was born everything changed. When she was napping I started painting, and switched from acrylic to oil paints because my paint brushes kept drying in the acrylics when she woke up and I went to get her.

I loved to paint in high school but never really took it seriously. I’m so grateful for my girls and for finding oil painting again, and I know now to trust the process as much as I can.

Your pieces often depict the female form, obviously we're pretty bloody amazing - what does it symbolise for you?

We are! I’m drawn to painting females in my work to celebrate our innate strength, power and presence. Rewriting cultural and historical narratives around female roles and expectations is a recurring theme in my work. I aim to embrace the duality - the delicate balance of vulnerability and resilience - that defines the female experience.

You have a great level of detail in your paintings - how long would you spend on a piece? Do you paint in long stints or short bursts...

It’s really hard to say, (I've tried and failed to keep track), it comes in bite size pieces, and some bites are big and some are small.

I paint as much as I can around work and family life, it keeps me grounded, often late night sessions are the best right now. But I recognize that creative work often comes in waves, it refuses be set to a schedule, and needs rest time as well as output time.

But the detailed, meditative work is where I’m called back to every time.

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

I’ve always had these kind of fleeting visual moments, like a dream’s tangible form of an idea or emotion. The quieter my mind is the more the ideas come through.
I didn’t have a way to convey these for the longest time, so now having found painting I won’t stop.

What mediums do you work with and has that changed over time?

Oil paint all the way. I’ve tried lots of mediums but for me this one is the best to express how I want to.

Where can we find you when you're not painting?

On adventures with the girls and my husband, or in the gallery space where I work - Open Space - I’m so grateful to work with other artists!

What's next for you? Have you already got a vision for your next piece?

Yes! A new series in the making, which will be delicate and creepy all at once - its early stages and I can’t wait to show you.

Not trying to make you homesick but... favourite thing that you miss about New Zealand?

Other than the beaches, ocean, wonderful people and family, I miss Burger Rings! Shapes crackers, Pineapple Lumps and Frujus. NZ has the best snack selection. I didn’t know how good I had it!