After retiring from a career as an International Event Rider (Equestrian) with Olympic aspirations my undertaking to build a life as a professional artist has provided a thrilling ride in its own right. Since the age of fifteen I have been a practicing professional oil on canvas artist. Born into a Scottish family of creatives; my father a life-long artist, my mother a PhD graduate of the fine arts and both published authors; together with my elder brothers, one a musician and the other a painter too; it was a logical path to follow.
Today, I call both Scotland and South Africa home, frequently travelling between the two. Nomadic living has allowed for my career to flourish beyond equine portraiture to bringing light with the human face and form through ballet to life on canvas. More recently I have been afforded the opportunity to experiment with abstract painting which has allowed my love for colour to be outlet.
My heart is bound to what I create because it is born from having endured seemingly insurmountable challenges to arrive at this point, suffering M.E. (myalgic encephalomyelitis) at age 16 to 20 and moving 7000miles away to South Africa to find healing. Art has played a pivotal role in my recovery. It is my hope that my art will do the same for others in any way great or small. Each painting that leaves my studio door carries within it my life`s story and creative philosophy - "Be kind to everyone you meet for they may be fighting a battle you know nothing about; so add light, live beautifully and where possible do so with a glass of good bubbly!"
Commission for Laura Collett. Rayef, Fernhill Sox and Noble Springbok.