Australian Red Kangaroo Painting

I have always been a lover of animals and birds (large and small). Each and every animal is unique and being able to capture that quality on a canvas brings me endless amounts of joy. No matter where I am I can always find beauty in the world when I look at nature and animals. I begin every painting with their eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul and until I capture the emotion and/or their unique personality in the eyes I cannot continue. Once I have achieved this I feel connected and emotionally invested in my work and can proceed. The greatest compliments I receive is when a buyer tells me they were compelled to purchase my work as they felt a connection with the subject and that my artwork touched them in some way. When I am not selling my artwork, I like to donate pieces for auction for various charities as I like that my art can be used to help others. ​ ​ MY STORY I was born in the Netherlands and raised in Melbourne Australia before moving to Perth in my 30’s. I was fortunate to have an uneventful early childhood but then lost my mother at age 11 and was estranged from my father by age 13. ​ My early thrust into adulthood left little time to explore my hidden talents or abilities. It was not until my late 40’s that I picked up a paint brush for the first time. I remember sitting back with my $2 paint bush and cheap set of paints and looking at what I had just created thinking “did I do that?” and “how did I do that?”. I felt a feeling of utter excitement as I saw the potential of a whole new world opening up ahead of me by being able to see the world through a painter’s eye. ​ Several weeks later and armed with a set of professional paints I painted my 4th painting which subsequently sold within 15 minutes of being uploaded to an online art site () with the next half a dozen selling within the first week. ​ From here I continued to work on commission items and on original paintings for my gallery to ensure my buyers constantly have new pieces of work available for purchase. Due to high demand I commenced making fine art prints on canvas and paper so as to make my work available and affordable to a wider audience without compromising my original pieces. ​ Since embarking on my art career, I have discovered a long history of artists in my family which might explain my inherent ability and passion for what I do, none of which would have been possible without the amazing support of my family and friends.