About Jai

Being caught painting grandma’s white Jonquils with my watercolour set as a 5 year old was my first memory of my life’s journey of art and plants. She was not happy, but it felt so right, laying on my belly in the dirt, filling in the blanks with splashes of colour.

If I wasn’t painting, I was sewing dollies clothes, cut from old clothing out of the ragbag. I think every girls doll in my street had my latest design made for it and they were as couture as any 7 year old could make with a needle and cotton.
I worked in many industries as well as bulb and native plant nurseries while raising my 2 children. In my 30s, after years of self taught sewing, I studied hard, and became a real designer dressmaker.

After moving to Qld in my 40s, I diverted my journey and worked in aged care, but hybridised and sold daylilies in my spare time. I felt I had nearly come full swing as there I was, helping nature create those flower colours. Of course I needed to record my hybrids and a photograph was a better way to say a 1000 words. Photography soon became a passion, then no insect, plant, animal or person was exempt of being captured in my lens. I was quite astounded when Canon bought a couple of my photos.

5 years ago I had an urge to pick up a paintbrush again…and of course my first attempt was a daylily. It was from a photograph of one of my hybrids.
Now I had come full swing, I thought! But no, wait! There’s more! I started eco dyeing with plants, and daylily flowers gave off the most beautiful colour dye in this process. Was I ever going to cease to be amazed?

I can’t ever imagine my life without plants, paint, fabric and a creative mind, and I hope my art can evoke inside the viewer similar feelings of joy and wonderment….even for a fleeting moment. It really is magic when you stop and smell the roses.

Frilly