This could well be a self portrait of myself with the love of my life in a reflective and imaginary dream.

The lady who is fully awake with open eyes is about to touch her man’s hip with her outstretched hand. The man however is in deep sleep with his eyes closed…..but he is busy “dreaming her” to touch him!

One side of the body of each figure is made of clay while the other half is a mirrored reflection. The couple’s wakefulness and material bodies are symbolised by the solid clay halves and their dream state and spirit by the clay’s reflection onto the bed sheet.

Viewed together clay and reflection form their whole entities. Resting heads sink blissfully into the clay pillows while a cloud like blanket drapes over the corners of the bed.

The lovers’ reflection is immediate because the mirrored steel bed sheet is in direct contact with the clay figures because no thick glass separates their reflection from the clay.

This unique artwork must always be kept in the protective dust free glass box supplied with it.

I just wanted to create something of beauty here…no agendas!

My organic looking star shaped creature is made up of many heavily textured cones interconnected with studded archways.

I constructed it with projecting and overhanging areas to maximise the shadow effects cast back onto the sculpture during the course of the day.

Some human remains were enclosed inside it while the clay was still wet and then they were incinerated during the subsequent kiln firing of the sculpture.

It can be displayed indoors or outdoors, including the full sun.

These figures form part of a major clay art project I am currently completing called “Refugee Boat”.

Please stay tuned to see images of its final completion here.

At the top of my tree a group of human ancestors raise their hands to form a lotus flower. Within the safety of their petal like hands sleeps a new born baby.

The lotus flower shape is repeated in three lower sections to make up an overall tree like structure. These sections are incised with mystical signs and symbols and also have bone like shapes arranged around their edges. Each section is interconnected by links that resemble a spinal column.

The base of my tree has human feet. A cut diamond, set in a gold ring sits hidden under the base of the sculpture. It symbolises the life force or Karmic energy of our ancestral line that I believe runs up through the central spinal column of my tree.

This art piece was made as a preliminary model for a second, much larger sculpture.

These two boy and girl were-cats were modelled on my pet cat and myself.

My cat called Gorgeous Girl is a chocolate brown long haired Burmese. She is my official studio cat and always keeps me company when I’m busy doing art.

Family pets were my very first subjects in life drawing. I sketched them many times because they are so photogenic. Also they can stay perfectly still for hours on end, unlike my friends who always shift about!

We identify with an animal’s human characteristics and behaviour and despite their furry faces, pets often have uncanny resemblances to their owners, such as in their eyes, the way they walk…. or even their bad habits!

I am fascinated by the sculptural shapes, russet colours and the smiling, toothy faces of pomegranates.

Also I love Raku and reduction fired Japanese glazes. There is a remarkable similarity between the natural colours and textures of pomegranates and these Japanese glazes and firing techniques, so I decided to make these two larger than life replicas using them.

I mixed this special ox blood glaze. It can result in greens or ruby red depending on how much smoke is allowed to interact with the molten hot glaze inside the kiln at critical times during the firing cycle, including while it is cooling down.

This memorial water feature is illustrated with hand made and glazed clay tiles to celebrate the short life of a popular young man from my local Community Centre who tragically drowned.

I completed it in consultation with his family. We decided I should illustrate things that were special to him during his life inside a huge sunflower, his favourite flower, so I added coloured clay slip images of fantasy heroes, animals and the lyrics of his favourite pop song below the water line.

When the water’s surface is touched these images appear to come to life.

This large meditative paving mural is illustrated with carved clay tiles and painted with inlaid coloured slip.

A mandala featuring flying birds circle around a carving of Planet Earth. Their wings resemble the ripples that radiate across a pool of water after a stone is thrown in.

A colourful boarder of roses encircles the artwork which, is itself, located in a beautiful public rose garden.

One of my poems is carved into the clay perimeter of the artwork. Mother Earth is speaking to us:  “Dear Humans…. You Excavate, Mutate, Rationalise and Downsize Me….. Pollute, Exterminate, Militarise, Despise Me. …. Enough! …… Let’s Co-Exist……. Educate, Liberate, Conserve and Share. ….. Encircle, Protect, Love and Reflect on Me…… Your Fragile Planet Earth.”

This local government commission included tile carving and hand impression making workshops with local residents.

One of ten carved and illustrated clay pavement portraits of different local and international celebrities.

Every portrait includes a personal quote from each celebrity, along with their name and birth date.

Illustrations include portraits of his Holiness the Dalai Lahma, playwright Shakespeare, Aboriginal artist Emily Kngwarreye and Indian artist Rabindranath Tagore, among others.

A carved decorative boarder compliments each mural in this popular local council street art commission.

These figures form part of a major clay art project I am currently completing called “Refugee Boat”

Please stay tuned to see images of its final completion.