I have had a lifelong interest in the human form and capturing it in various mediums.
Even as a child I spent many hours perfecting my school assignments with detail and colour ensuring
the layout was visually appealing.

I started my tertiary education with a 3-year diploma
course in fashion design at Emily McPherson College
in Melbourne, after which I was employed as a fashion
designer at Lucas Vanity Fair, a well-known luxury
lingerie firm in Flinders Lane who also designed and
made fashion dresses for more mature women.
At 22 years of age, I took 2 years off work and went
travelling to Europe with 3 girlfriends. Mainly based
in Germany, we had fabulous adventures, travelling
around Europe, Scandinavia, and the UK in an old VW
Beetle.

During my time in Europe, my employer Lucas Vanity
Fair, who I was still contracted to in Australia, set up
some contacts for me to spend 4-5 months working
in the Paris fashion industry.I found employment with Carven on the Rond-Point
de’ Champs Elysée. My job during at Carven was to
spend all day sketching new ideas together with
another young designer. We sketched designs from
coats to swimwear and everything in-between. I took
the opportunity to improve my schoolgirl French by
taking classes in my lunchtimes. In addition, I was also
fortunate to be invited by a Paris fashion agent,
connected to the Australian business I worked for, to
attend fashion shows at Dior, Cardin, Jacques Esterell
and Nina Ricci and others, including a small private
showing for Grace Kelly.

April 2023

After my European adventures, I travelled to New York
(NY) staying for 3 months in a YCWA still working for
Lucas Vanity Fair in Melbourne/Ballarat. I was there to
gather information for them from the large department
stores like Macey’s and Bergdoff Goodman, about the trends of the original garments I had seen in Paris. These were copied for retail (called Line for Line
copies), now known as Ready to Wear.

I focused on my family in the 70’s, and resumed my
career in the mid 80’s working for Sportscraft, Sportsgirl, David Lawrence, Country Road and a boutique label – Jane Lamerton.
I believe my career in the fashion industry was where I gained experience with propor􀆟ons of the figure, line, colours, shapes, form, angles, and I learned to
understand properties of fabric types, and the importance of attention to detail.

Throughout my life, all my interests and hobbies
have related to creative expression.
I have completed many short courses and spent 􀆟me
in various art groups and art classes. I spent many
years learning from Sandra Dare, a very talented local
pastel artist, who taught me enormous amounts
regarding pastel painting, and 13 years ago, I saw a
demonstration by Alan Close at St Jude’s School where
he was sketching portraits of people from the audience.
I was mesmerised by his skill, and I was delighted
to find out he was teaching locally in Bayswater. At
my age of 84 I am still enjoying learning new skills and
techniques of art with the very talented teacher Alan.