Cubbies and Kingdoms
What This Collection Is Holding
This collection circles back to the places I used to play. Raw bushland in my childhood backyard, where granite rocks, dry scrub, scattered gum trees, and wide open views shaped the way I saw the world. These were the places that held my imagination… cubbies built from fallen sticks, secret paths winding between boulders, long afternoons of chasing light and chasing nothing at all.
But more than map or memory, these paintings hold what those spaces still give me. Resilience. Rootedness. Perspective. A deep love of nature. They are about the echoes of being small in a big, wild place… and how those echoes continue to shape who I am becoming.
‘Place of Possibility’
At the top of my parents’ property, perched on a tall granite rock, I felt both small and infinite. This was where I paused, tested myself, and let my imagination stretch as far as the horizon. It was a place of quiet courage, of dreaming without knowing it, and of sensing that life held more than what I could see. Even now, the view carries a deep calm and a reminder that possibility, wonder, and creative freedom always await… just beyond the edge.
‘Learning to Leap’
These rocks were more than just stones. They were a playground of daring, discovery, and imagination. As a child, I built cubbies, climbed natural ledges, and leapt from stone to stone, each step a test of balance and bravery. The rough surfaces, the narrow paths winding between them, the way sunlight shifted across the rocks, everything invited me to explore, to risk, to delight in the small victories.
Now they live in memory as teachers. They remind me that courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to keep trying. Strength comes not from perfection, but from falling, laughing, and rising again. In my life and work, I return to these stones to remember how it feels to trust myself, to embrace challenge, and to find joy in the leaps that shape us.
‘Falling Away, Staying Grounded’
A tall eucalyptus, paired with a smooth flat rock, stood as a childhood landmark. It was a place of play, rest, and orientation through the bushland. The tree’s peeling bark and enduring presence, along with the rock’s grounding surface, offered both shelter and guidance. As an adult, they symbolize resilience, growth, and stability: a reminder that we can shed old layers, change, and still remain rooted. This painting captures the balance between transformation and constancy, inviting reflection on our own anchors in life.
