Painted Dreams Studio

                       The artist with Paint bred mare "The Colour Of Love"

Born in Newcastle NSW, Australia I have been drawing & painting horses since the age of 3.  I spent my school age years in Auckland, New Zealand, taking Art as a subject at High School, preferring to draw horses instead of the usual projects.  At 13 I entered a pencil drawing of my first pony in a magazine competition & won 2nd prize.  I sold my first horse sketch at 15, then went onto sell & exhibit my work from there, using 6B pencils, coloured pencil & oil pastels at that time.  In 1983-1984 I completed a course in Showcard, Ticketwriting & Calligraphy at TAFE Newcastle, NSW.  Now I paint full-time from home, realising my dream at last.

Enrolling in a short course in 1996 I discovered soft pastels & I was hooked.  Pastels are wonderful for portraying the beauty of the horse, they capture the softness & reality of these gorgeous animals.  In 1997 I began private tuition in oils & also enjoy using this medium.  Recently I have completed several acrylics, which I call my "fun stuff" & most of these have sold to date.  Other subjects I like to paint are landscapes, both in pastel & oils, as well as fantasy depicting unicorns, dragons & faeries - a fascination I have had since I was a child.

Inspiration for my paintings comes from a variety of sources, sometimes dreams & other times from the beauty that surrounds me - in the unique flora & fauna of our native Australian bush, flowers in the garden, my love for all things equine.  Living close to the river I often venture to a special place amongst the canopy of trees & water rushing over the well worn stones, with my camera in hand to capture the enchantment.  Having a belief in the world of nature spirits, the Faerie Folk & magic, I find that it fires up my imagination to create paintings.

I have won over 70 awards in regional shows, many times the recipient of People's Choice Award, Champion & Reserve Champion Painting.  Having been a participant in group exhibitions, I am  currently preparing works for my own showing scheduled for October 2010. I am also working towards gaining representation in USA which is all very exciting- new horizons, new opportunities! One of my equine paintings has gone on to be the featured artwork on a Texan wine label, giving me exposure across America and I hope to exhibit my paintings there in the future.

My paintings & other works have gone to collectors in NZ, Sydney, Victoria, the Hunter Valley &  Mid North Coast of Australia.   Sales overseas include France, Scotland & USA.  I like to work from photographs, either supplied by clients or taken by myself.  My other passion is nature photography (especially dragonflies); one of my photographs was selected as a finalist in the Lower North Coast Photographic Art Prize  held at the Manning Regional Gallery in Taree, NSW June 2008.

For many years I competed successfully in the show ring with Paint & Quarter Horses, now I prefer to enjoy pleasure riding & concentrate on my art, specialising in Equine Portraits.  I like to listen to  Celtic & Native American music whilst painting.  I also have an interest in Reiki, crystals & shamanism.  The horse is my spirit guide - embodying strength, courage, power & new journeys.  Other totem animals are the dolphin, bear & dragonfly - bringing awareness of joy, inner knowledge  & the ability to manifest dreams as reality.  I live on a farm on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Australia with my partner, 2 dogs & 6 horses - (4 Paints & 2 Palominos).

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 Below is a watercolour I painted when I was 13, I was crazy about coloured horses long before I owned them.

                                              "SKEWBALD  PONY" - 10"x12"

       Photo taken in 1970 by my father at a horse riding ranch in Kerikeri NZ - my first      ride on a coloured horse, I was about 8 years old at the time.

                           Do not go where the path may lead .......

                                   go instead where there is no path

                                   & leave a .......trail.

                                                         Emerson