I LIKE PAINT.

Ever since I can remember I've preferred the smell of paint, varnish even turps, over freshly baked bread or cookies!
 
In Amsterdam, 2006 my daughter was born, and shortly after came the move to Poland.
It's no understatement to say in this chapter of my life, I was reborn! 
The 'new mum' role highlighted all my weaknesses and strengths, and with those strengths I opened the floodgates to my suppressed creative being. The urgency for colour and paint resurfaced.

I founded WAWA BLA BLA. Emerging from Warsaw's dynamic street art scene and my curiosity, WAWA BLA BLA was a documentation of my urban art discoveries. In late 2014 I published a book and went on to open a vibrant gallery that promoted Polish Graffiti and Street Artists, celebrating the raw pulse of urban creativity. The gallery was a space alive with colour, noise, and freedom.
At the same time I was writing a monthly editorial piece in an English language expat magazine, promoting my host city Warsaw.

My move to Gdansk in 2024 marked another turning point. My daughter left for university, and after years of selling my photographs and curating and promoting others, I turned the lens inward, developing my own visual language with paint. A renewed artistic identity emerged.

My art today reflects that transformation and carries traces of both worlds: the bold spontaneity of the graffiti artist on the street and the quiet, sensual, depth of personal reflection.
It is a continuation of that dialogue between chaos and calm, rebellion and grace. 

I paint and create on every material available to me. I am an ardent recycler. I hoard cardboard, plastics, clothing remnants and paper, all for repurposing in my art. I strive to source materials locally in order to minimise my carbon footprint. Mostly I enjoy working on canvas or board. The bigger the better, but I also take delight in seeing a collection of small pieces come together. In my small, but bright, studio space and with an even smaller budget, I consider myself on the right side of life. 
I am not here to behave. I am here to disturb the peace. Art is the kindest and most honest way for me to do that.

I gravitate to creative, hopeful souls. People who motivate and empower me. Particularly like minded and entrepreneurial women. I feel tremendous satisfaction when I am able to support and motivate my peers to reach their goals too.

- Photography is my medium for capturing the fine detail and the composition of a 'real' moment that has meaning to me. 

- Paint, Collage and Embroidery are the mediums I lean to for visualisation of that conversation with those moments.

- Abstract and Expressive is my language. 

With one Art qualification to my name, a GCSE grade A, you could argue I have no right to call myself an 'artist'. But, the anarchist in me, who questions everything about the system, especially education, can not concur. Over the past 30+ years, I have sourced available learning tools, attended workshops and visited galleries and museums the world over to build my appreciation of art, its history and to gain technical skill. I continue to learn.  The practice through playfulness, getting messy, exploring the process and being around like minded humans is what matters most to me. I usually work on several pieces simultaneously. This practice satisfies my dopamine cravings, gives space to release all emotions and wastes less paint!

To elevate my knowledge and skills, in 2026 I will be going back to school (online) to further my education in Art History. This excites me! 

According to my family and art teacher at high school, choosing Business over Art at college, was an unexpected choice for me. 
I studied business sales, marketing and specialised in the Tourism sector. After two years at Chelmsford, Essex College, I completed my studies and took a full time job with a reputable UK wide Travel Operator. Not long after, I got the itch to move, to see the world beyond Essex and London. I left the UK and began my journey living and working abroad. First America, then the Netherlands and now Poland. I took my paint congealed foldable easel with me. 

Today I'm based in the beautiful city of Gdansk on the glorious and pristine Baltic Coast, and have a home in Amsterdam that is a stones throw from some of the most renowned Art Museums and Galleries in the world. 
Amsterdam and Gdansk have strikingly similar architecture, and as a self confessed chronic day dreamer my daily walks always inspire and feed my imagination. Cobbled streets, upward reaching facades, decorative gables and impressive brick work take my thoughts back to the 17th century, Dutch renaissance and a Golden Age. 

My family now live on the Isle of Wight and my daughter resides in Amsterdam. I visit both regularly.
The mum job is great! I've messed up loads over the years, but not this job. Nurturing her love of books, art and music, while guiding her emotionally to become a bright, caring and creative citizen of the world has been my best unselfish act. My daughter is officially a book junkie and an expert ice cream eater, achievements that bring me immense joy each day.

In the words of Depeche Mode, who are also from Essex, 'let me take you on a trip... see the world in my eyes'.  I welcome you to peruse, purchase or commission my art, and if you want to know more, sign up to my newsletter! You'll learn more about how I navigate my way in today's beautiful and mad world, through brush strokes and words read.