Biography

After training as a weaver in the USA, I returned to Australia in 1977 and subsequently established a production weaving workshop in Sydney in 1979 where I trained apprentices in my studio. In the early 80's, I established the Barr Street Weavers in Sydney and also worked as a community artist training rural and urban educators working in out of school centres, travelling extensively around NSW. 

From 1983 – 2003 I taught visual arts in the Faculty of Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong.

For a list of exhibitions please visit the exhibitions page HERE

Collections

State Library of NSW; National Library of Australia, ACT.; National Gallery of Australia ACT; Power House Museum, Sydney, New South Wales; Queensland Art Gallery; Aralu-an Art Gallery, Alice Springs Northern Territory: University of Southern Queensland; Uni-versity of Wollongong  New South Wales; Wollongong City Art Gallery, New South Wales; Goulburn Regional Gallery, New South Wales; NERAM Armidale NSW, Mackay Region-al Gallery Queensland, Australia; Flinders University Collection, South Australia; Art Gal-lery of  NSW, Sydney Australia, Carleton College, Minnesota USA; Washington State University, USA; Can Serrat Spain; private collections in Australia and overseas.

Professional Experience

University Fellow Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, NSW Australia, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer & Co-ordinator of Visual Arts in the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, NSW Australia, since 1984; Director of the Faculty Art Gallery for six years.

2017 Residency - March - Vermont Studio Centre, USA 
2016 Residency - October - Xochi Quetzal, Chapala Mexico
2015 Residency - La Muse France, Documentary-Art, France
2014 Artist residency in Milazzo Sicily
Co-curated Collected Connected & Cut - an exhibition of Artist Books
2013 Artist residency, Can Serrat, Spain
Attended Codex Book Fair, San Francisco
one of three judges the East Gippsland Art Gallery artist book prize
2012 Artist in Residence for Julia and David Foundation, Costa Rica
2011 Workshop tutor - Fibre Arts at Ballarat
Artist Residency Vermont Studio Center, Vermont USA
Invited artist  - V1 International Textile Biennial Mexico
2010/11 Workshop tutor artist books - Stuart Town summer School
2009 Workshop tutor artist books - Stuart Town summer School
Particiapnt in CODEX artist book Fair, San Francisco USA
Artist Residency at Vermont Studio Center, Vermont USA
2008 workshop tutor Fibres Ballarat - Victoria
workshop tutor Fibres West - Western Australia
workshop tutor in conjunction with Momentum, Tamworth Textile Biennial
2007 Artist in Residence NERAM, Armidale NSW
Artist in Residence Skopelos, Greece
Curator Milestones 1 & 11 for Art, Heritage & Place Project Wollongong
Workshop tutor Sturt summer School
2006 Workshop tutor in artist books in New Zealand and Geelong Victoria
2005 Artist in Residence Quark Polar Expeditions, Antarctic Expedition
Lecturer Paper & Book Intensive Colorado USA
2004 Visiting Artist Residency at NERAM, Armidale NSW
Artist in Residence Quark Polar Expeditions, Arctic Expedition
2003 Visiting Artist Skopelos Art Foundation, Greece
2002 Curator of an exibition of Australian paper artists to show in Japan
1999 Selected as a participant in Northern Fibre 111 held in Jutland Denmark
Selected as 1 of 3 Australian artists to exhibit in the International Tapestry Triennale in Lodz, Poland
1994 Cite Internationale Studio Paris, Art gallery of New South Wales studio 3 month residency.
Visiting Lecturer Marmara University Istanbul, Turkey
Healthy Cities Award for Contribution Towards Community Arts in the Wollongong Area
1993-4 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade grant for travelling Student Exhibition to Turkey
1983-4 Australia Council Trainee Grants for training in weaving workshop
1979-83 Established production weaving workshop in Sydney Australia working with apprenticeship training program; also worked as a community artist with Community Activities Network from 1978, training rural and urban educators working in out of school centres.

Publications

2010 Recycled Library: Altered books - catalogue
2009 Shapes of Longing - catalogue
2008 Searching for Asphodels - catalogue
Momentum - catalogue
2007 Imprint – Spring ’07 review of Wanderlust by Virginia Jay
Textile Fibre Forum, issue 4, # 88 Wanderlust review by Kathryn Orton
IAPMA Journal Nov ‘07 – Journeys Article Liz Jeneid
Milestones – curator, catalogue foreword
2006/7 Wanderlust - Artist book catalogue
2004 Undercover - Artist Book Catalogue
2002 Departures & Paperworks 2002 Ino, Japan. catalogues
2000/1 Lake Mungo Revisited – catalogue
Common Ground - catalogue
1999 Northern Fibre - Hidden Treasures - catalogue
1998 9th Internationale Tapestry Triennale - catalogue
1996 Below the Surface catalogue essay.P54,56Derivations - catalogue essay
Second Look- catalogue essay Prospect Gallery S.A.
TAASA Review - The Turkish Connection
1995 Crossing Borders catalogue essay Sue Rowley p. 28-29
Intersection Catalogue, Wollongong City Gallery Publication
Periphery, catalogue essay by Diana Wood Conroy Issue no.22 Feb'95 p30-31
1994 Discerning Textiles catalogue essay Jennifer Lamb
Anthology of the Illawarra edit by Ron Pretty
1992 Imprint- Reflections on the Artist Book Summer 1992 Vol 27 #4 NSW
Textile Fibre Forum #33 Artists of the Illawarra p.27
Grace Cochrane, The Crafts Movement in Australia- a History
p.
11,215,358,363, pub NSW Univ Press '92

Study & Research Overseas

2015 France
2014 Sicily
2013 Spain
2012 Peru and Costa Rica
2010 Italy, New Mexico, Mexico
2009 San Francisco (Codex Book Fair) New york, Paris, Istanbul
Vermont USA - residency
2008 Vietnam & Laos
2007 Cyprus, Greece, Spain - Mallorca, Menorca, Malaga Region
2006 Israel, Spain, Paris, France
2005 Antarctic, Greece, Mallorca, USA
2004 Iceland, Greenland, Canada
2003 Italy, Greece, USA - one month residency at the Skopelos Foundation Greece.
2002 Cambodia/Japan
2000/1 USA, Europe
1999 Denmark - participant Northern Fibre 111
1998 India, Europe - lectured in France, Finland & Estonia
1994 Turkey - to mount University of Wollongong student exhibition in Istanbul, visiting textile lecturer in residence, Marmara University, Istanbul.
Residency at Cite, Paris for 3 months
1992 Japan, Hungary (Paper & Book conference) Turkey, France, UK,
USA (Participated in Artist Book Fair Washington DC)
1989 Yemen, Turkey, Switerland, UK, USA, Japan