From town planning to planning to paint

Despite having always been drawn to creative pursuits, I chose to focus on my perceived strengths upon finishing school and completed a Bachelor of Science before going on to complete a Master of Urban Planning. I then spent several years working as a Town Planner across several jurisdictions throughout eastern Australia, within both the private and public sectors.

Shortly after the birth of my first child, Hazel, in 2019, I relocated to Japan with my husband, Cadeyrn, who had been working in Japan for some time. It was in Japan that I turned to various forms of art making, especially watercolour painting and sketching, during the glimpses of ‘me time’ Hazel afforded me. Upon our return to Australia, my family settled in Canberra and found ourselves facing the arrival of Covid-19 here. Once more, sporadic painting became key to my mental health as a young mother experiencing social isolation in a new city. This time, my practise focused on the use of acrylic paints on canvas, a medium that I found I loved.

As Covid-19 restrictions eased in Canberra, I returned to casual work as a Town Planner but found that between caring for my daughter, my husband’s schedule and work trips and having to learn a new statutory planning system in yet another jurisdiction, my career just wasn’t working for me. Along came my second child, Lewis, in late 2021 and with him, a second break from the workforce. It was then that I started painting in earnest, gathering skill, refining my practise and loving it all the more. Friends and family began urging me to take it from a hobby to a side hustle or maybe even a fully-fledged career. Fast forward 17 months and here I am - buidling my very own website!!