abit about me

 Educational professional, artist and musician. 

As a child Sally would paint on any available surface. Her self portrait, aged nine was painted on an discarded shirt box. Picasso and Modigliani were early influences along with Olsen, Whiteley and Fairbairn in later years. Sally studied Visual Arts at a tertiary level and later went on to teach and consult in the Creative Arts.

A Brisbane based artist Sally likes to explore different styles and the expressive qualities of media and colour. Her works are primarily conceptual, abstract and expressive.

 She draws on personal experiences and themes that reference relationships, context and metaphor. 

Her work now spans six decades and has become her way of documenting places, people and experiences in a way that viewers readily relate to.

 I work in whatever style grabs me at the time or is suggested by the surface I’m working on.  I’ll use anything and everything to paint with. I like to work quickly but having said that I’ll keep working on the same thing until it feels resolved. This means I sometimes destroy things that later I come to wish I had not. 

I love to work on second-hand canvases because they often present unique challenges and can often take work in a unexpected directions.  Sometimes works emerge organically, others are inspired by preparatory sketches. I constantly gather images on my computer or phone to inform future work. 

 I’m not interested in representing subject matter realistically but do strive to create work that elicits an emotional response which is why I often play around with different colour palettes. 

 I have had a diverse career teaching students in preschool, primary, secondary and tertiary settings as well holding many senior leadership positions in education. 

I was formerly the NSW Principal School Principal Advisor for the Australian Curriculum, primary principal representative for Curriculum NSW Education Standards, Principal Liaison to the Director or Early Learning and Primary Education, principal of two primary schools and have held consultancy positions in gifted and talented, curriculum, assessment and reporting and the creative arts. 

Over the years I have composed many original songs, musical and artworks. Since retiring I have returned full time to pursue my love of art and music