
“Creativity is a spiritual experience. A conversation between oneself and one’s soul.” (Sue Monk Kidd)
When I go to my heart of hearts, I feel compelled to create. If I can’t paint, I write. If I couldn’t paint, or write, if I was unable to move or speak, I would still think in pictures and tell myself stories.
I have loved art, spirituality, animals and psychology most of my life. I studied psychology, theology and counselling for my degree, and painted wildlife art, so my spiritually and psychology merged, and my love of art and animals merged, the two different strands carrying on separately from each other. When I emigrated from Africa, I shifted to more surreal art, with the two finally joining together.
I like to paint things that speak to more than just our intellectual minds, things that touch our emotions and bring hidden thoughts and feelings from our unconscious. Art speaks by evoking shared emotion between the artist and the viewer – when you feel “Ah yes, I love that too” or “Oh I have felt that too,” then a conversation is happening.
“Who would like some more ice” Series
I started painting the “Who would like some more ice” series after seeing a comment that people spend longer looking at paintings of citrus that other subject matter. As a passionate conservationist and wildlife painter, I found that really annoying. I was wondering why that was, I mused that I associate citrus with lemon, and lemon with ice in a glass. The link with ice got me thinking about polar ice and polar bears, and the series was born. I am loving designing and painting this series. 10% of the proceeds of any original or print will be donated to WWF.