I feel a sense of comfort and hope when I see the colour Pink.

As a teenager I absolutely disliked the colour pink. It felt uncool and so typically “shallow and girly”. None of my paintings had pink in them and I was certainly not taking into consideration the emotion of my artworks and the feelings that colour can provoke in the viewer. I was extremely creative, but at that stage of my life I was not a creative at work yet.

After I had given birth to my daughter, I found the colour pink started to slowly creep into my life. I secretly liked it and opened my heart to it as the years passed by. I found it suddenly making an appearance on my palate and in many of my artworks, in my wardrobe and even in my home.

My perception of pink has now shifted, it is no longer a typically girly, sickly sweet gender stereotype. It has grown to represent strength, love, and warmth in my life. I feel a sense of comfort and hope when I see the colour pink. In my work, it represents a sense of playfulness and fun. 

Much of my most recent body of work containing all shades of pink, I smile to myself how often I use it now. It is such a happy colour, and a joy to paint with.

Together with a soft and warm yellow, it reminds me so much of summer and the excitement in the air as summer approaches.

 For people like me who love swimming and saltwater and feeling the sun on their skin, summer is a time of happiness and light. Whenever I approach the sea, the horizon suddenly opening from the Sydney cityscape, I feel jubilant, wanting to scream with joy, flinging off my shoes and socks and run to the ocean. Even though there is little pink in the seascape, it is such a mesmerising feature in our Sydney summer sunsets. 

In this sense, I want to wish you a very fulfilled and safe summer full of beautiful colours and wonderful moments to cherish.