A glimpse of my story

During my 20+ year career I’ve written my biography various times but never before have I had the courage to be completely frank & vulnerable.

Early years.
I was born in 1977 in Potchefstroom, a small town in the northern part of South Africa as the youngest of four children. My father an eccentric music lecturer and organist. My mother a house-wife/cook/dressmaker. Both my parents had mental health challenges but it was my mother’s schizophrenia that proved the catalyst for the most curious childhood. At 16 I was diagnosed with depression which remained a challenge but simultaneously an inspiration throughout my life. At 17 I was involved in a shattering head-on collision on a motorcycle that claimed the life of my friend/driver. It left my right hand slightly deformed and permanently altered my lumbar spine.

Days after the accident, the diary I kept for years was taken by a jealous ex-boyfriend, read and mailed to my parents. This prompted me to turn from writing to painting as an outlet. Looking back I realize it was the moment my art was born as I’ve never been able to write freely again.

A few weeks later I escaped my parents’ volatile home and started earning an income from selling artworks while finishing school. I desperately wanted to study Fine Arts but reluctantly settled for Graphic Communication as this was the only art related course available at the local University. Lost between survivor’s guilt and depression while waitressing red-eye shifts I was frustrated with the course and soon I selectively attended only classes that interested me while filling my days with painting.

Paint or bread?
The following year I spread my wings. I was 19. With the clothes on my back and a suitcase filled with paint I drove 1000 miles west to Stellenbosch, found a tiny steaming-hot attic to live and work while painting murals, doing street fairs and waitressing. When having to choose between buying paint or bread the paint won since I had to do a painting for my landlord in exchange for my rent, that was months in arrears. I started exhibiting in Cape Town, Somerset West, Grahamstown and had my first solo exhibit during the 1998 Aardklop, National Arts Festival, in Potchefstroom.

A few more exhibitions later and living on coffee alone, I finally saved enough to buy my first international plane ticket. London, the beginning of a brand new chapter. I discovered Tate Modern and frantically ran to find Pollock & Dali. I cried in front of Rothko’s Maroon series and fell in love with Moore. I was home. I was there daily. To survive I cared for a man who broke his neck while incarcerated, for an Indian mouth-artist, sold gas & electricity on the daring street corners of Brixton and finally exhibited in Notting Hill. I backpacked Europe collecting experiences to convert into art. Soon I learned that the more of the world I saw, the more I craved to see.

Realizing my work needed exposure I completed my Web Design diploma in 2001 through Boston Business College. That year I once again exhibited at the Aardklop Art festival in Potchefstroom where a ridiculously handsome stranger walked into my exhibit, bought a painting and would soon become my life partner.

A happier life
2003, newly married we moved to the USA where I continued to create while studying marble sculpting in Colorado and taking photography classes. Online and offline my support slowly grew while I explored mediums and techniques. 2007 I took part in ArtExpo New York, which exposed my work to a more international market and soon my gallery numbers doubled.

In August 2009 our beautiful son was born followed by our second in 2011.

Asia
2014 our family moved to India where I studied Advanced Photography inspired by the sights delirious Delhi. I was overwhelmed with the poverty and dire circumstances that such an overwhelming number of the population lived in. I searched for the right opportunity to get involved and soon started teaching art at SMS center in Delhi. My students were born to mothers sold or trafficked into prostitution. I was not able to change their circumstances but I saw art as a means to free their imagination. I formed ‘Art for Hope’, a group of volunteers that focused on creativity & skill building. Later we organized events and exhibitions (more here) raising funds that enabled us to start their first computer center and an improved nutrition project. Delhi’s air pollution had a dire effect on our children but we were not ready to leave incredible India yet. In 2017 we relocated to Pune and our Indian adventures continued. I also saw this as an opportunity to expand ‘Art for Hope’. Soon I again formed a group of volunteers teaching art to red light children, in slums (at Deep Griha Society) and rural villages (with Ashta No Kai). I also started an initiative, Pune Photo walks, studied Reiki as well as Indian Art through Oxford’s Continued Education.

While living in India my husband and I grabbed every opportunity we could to explore. First with babies in backpacks through Rajastan and then the moment they were strong enough to walk we hiked Meghalaya and Kashmere. We rode camels in Pushkar and Elephants in Kerala. We swam the Laccadive Sea in Sri Lanka, watched our toddlers climb the ruins at Angkor Wat and rested in Japan’s hot springs. Our kids’ passports soon ran out of space.

Back to the USA
2019 our family moved back to the USA, I completed two more courses through Oxford (Visual and Modern Art) and I relaunched my Studio in Savannah, Georgia where I currently live with my husband, two boys and an array of rescued pets.