Living on a small plot of land surrounded by animals, a large vege garden, and lots of fruit trees, I'm trying to live the self-sufficient lifestyle. Combining this with a career as an artist sometimes gets a bit intense, as it's like having two full time jobs... If sometimes the view out of the studio window looks more like an impenetrable jungle than a productive vege garden, I just have to remind myself that at least the chooks are having fun in there, even if the veges aren't!

My life is currently ruled by one cat, one dog, nineteen hens, three roosters, seven sheep, and a small herd of goats. The chooks all have very individual personalities and keep us supplied with eggs and a lot of entertainment. Then there's all the antics the goats and sheep regularly get up to... we don’t need TV at our place, you just have to look out the window!

Mouse the whippet and Ollie the cat are my beloved friends and studio companions (and occasional artist's models) of the past fifteen years. They are pictured above doing, as usual, an excellent job of moral support while I work.

Mousewhisker Studio is so named because of the mouse which hops onto my signature when I’m not looking. The ‘whisker’ part expresses my aspiration to create art ‘fine enough to be painted with a mouse’s whisker!’