“ I was born in Marrickville, Sydney. My parents came over from England and France. They eloped, got married and I was born the next year. They were 20 and 21 years old. We moved around a lot. I went to 6 schools in Sydney, then Brisbane. My parents separated when I was 4 and Mum packed us up and moved to Brisbane. I had one sister at this stage and we lived in a caravan park in Murarrie for 6 months. Most of my childhood memories are running around the foreshore in Wynnum and exploring the mud flats at Moreton Bay. I’ve always enjoyed the natural environments, no matter where they are. I started high school in Brisbane then moved back to Sydney.
I left home at 14 and stayed in a men’s refuge in Manly for about 6 months. I had a key to my room. It was the only place I could find. I didn’t know people, there was no extended family or resources. It’s just where I ended up. It was a hard time.
I really wanted to finish Year 12 but you had to fill out an application form and because I had moved between the states, I hadn’t done 6 years of high school, I wasn’t from overseas and I was too young because I had missed Year 3 moving back and forth. I didn’t qualify to do Year 12. It’s weird when you are an Australian citizen but you don’t comply. I was already living with my first boyfriend so I just left.
I was very curious about the impacts of life on children. As soon as I turned 18 I was allowed to apply for Tafe and I went and studied childcare. I was interested in psychology, development and how people are shaped in the world. My career started in childcare but I got bored with that and started working with people with disabilities on the weekends. I got to work in the Summerland Institution in Sydney. It was an insight. I almost feel privileged that I was able to see a bit of that before they closed them all down because it informed my career in disability. I worked in the disability sector for 30 years. I’m 49 now.
I’ve often given thanks that I didn’t become a sex worker on heroin. Life challenges can break a lot of people and we should never judge people for how they find their coping mechanisms in this world. There’s challenges and then there’s resilience and not everyone has resilience. Resilience is developed through loving, nurturing and safe spaces and some people never get that. I find my safe spaces in solitude and in nature and luckily none of my partners have been violent. I feel blessed when I think back through times in my life where I was vulnerable, I just seemed to get through without being hurt….…further.
I was with my first partner from 16 to 23 and we met in Sydney, packed the car and followed the sun north. We landed in Redcliffe which we thought was beautiful. We only stayed for 2 years as it was hard to find work and it was a bit of a rough area. We moved back to Sydney and broke up. I went up to visit my sister on the Gold Coast and landed a job in Disability. I stayed for 4 years and did a Diploma in Human and Community Services. At the end of that course they said I had 12 credits for Uni. No-one in my family had been to Uni. I got really excited and thought..I’m going to do Policy and Impact Statements for the Government, being fresh faced and still believing in change.
I was riding a motorbike at the time. I rode around all the universities and came to Southern Cross and thought it was the most beautiful university with all the trees, the Koalas and the big scrub remnant there. I came down for an interview and said I was interested in Sociology and they suggested I do Politics which I did until I quickly realised that writing Policy and Impact statements would be a waste of my time because there are so many contributing forces to Politics and I am not big enough to navigate that.
Just before I started at SCU I had a motor bike accident. I was supposed to be birth support for a friend and the baby hadn’t come in time. I had to go back to do a placement and on the way I got taken out by a Landcruiser and spent 2 weeks in hospital. I arrived at Uni on crutches, had all my belongings in my car and I didn’t have time to rest so within 6 months I had a nervous breakdown and experienced psychosis. I was under the care of Harry Freeman here in Lismore who was brilliant. I went back to working with people one on one and got a job with wonderful REDinc in Lismore and I stayed for 8 years. I was very inspired by my mentor Kerrie Divett who sadly passed away recently. I landed in the art studio with Kerrie and watched the magic happen with people engaging with art and getting a sense of self.
I drowned when I was 18 months old and I died. My mother and father were running a hotel at the time called The Koala Inn. My father had a long career in the hotel industry. There was a fish pond which was indoors and outdoors with a glass wall in the centre and it was a beautiful feature to the restaurant. The grocery guy came with a delivery and left the screen door open. I was only a baby and loved the water. I climbed in and got stuck under that glass wall and when I was spotted I was all blue and twisted. I was dead when my mother found me. She did the CPR and resuscitated me. I was flown by helicopter to hospital. I came good but that had impacts on my nervous system so I have constant eczema. I feel angels were watching over me. When I had my motorcycle accident they said in the hospital..Angels lifted you from that wreckage. I had been thrown clear into a brick wall.
It’s amazing how all the different threads of our stories weave and I love that but when I was unwell it reminded me of unweaving. All the threads of my life were falling apart but when you get that unravelling you get to re-weave which is magic. I think all these processes are so valuable in our life journey.
I rented a little house in Little Keen St. Someone gave me some oil paints and I started to use them while I was at home healing. I painted every day and I had developed a great network of like minded friends through Uni and through being politically active. We’d all revealed our values and I found my kin. I love that about Lismore.
I ended up buying a house here thanks to my bike accident. In 2006 I saw a place to rent next door to the op-shop in North Lismore which I thought make a great gallery. My friend Amy and I were excited about it. I called the number on the window and paid the first $100. The Serpentine Gallery was born. Through my bike accident I donated $5k as a start up fund and we opened the doors, renovated the space into a functioning art gallery and now it’s been 15 years. There is still a need for grass roots exhibition spaces. We are always booked out and it’s been 100% funded by the energy of the community.
Last year in the buying frenzy of regional real estate our North Lismore premises sold and we needed to move Serpentine. The Property Manager of Lifeline saw a story we did on the Lismore App and gave us this fabulous new space for only $200pw. It lends itself to performing arts as well. We have decided to throw a New Year’s Eve party and we have a whole night of performing artists as well as an exhibition of local art. Serpentine didn’t plan to move but we had to move which was costly. We have exhibitions booked for next year so we had to set up the new space quickly. It’s 150 sq metres which is a lot to paint, organise the lighting, etc, so we are fundraising on the night with an art auction.
Four years ago I did my Masters in Mental Health and I’ve been working with the power of art making and expression with healing. I’m also a registered art therapist. I used to work with the street kids on the Gold Coast..you know, it’s all concrete and I always had this dream of getting a place in the country and having the kids come from the city, feed the chickens, collect the eggs and make their own omelette. It’s become obvious to me that having safe spaces for people to meet are so valuable for connection. Lots of people come through this space with a whole array of life experiences and challenges but we all meet on common ground, which is art.
My life has been full of adventure and I fell in love with the Northern Rivers. I really felt this place had connection and diversity and I love how people are respected for being themselves more here. Lismore is a special place.”