I like to often incorporate both calligraphy and portraiture, and to explore the ways in which one’s words, as well as image can be used to portray their life, values, character and relationships. I also find the process of creating an artwork as important as the final artwork itself – as this is where the art truly comes to life, and the connections are made, and I try to capture this through videography and film.

There’s two aspects to art which I find drive my interest in it.

Firstly, there’s the technical challenge and hands-on aspect. I love learning and figuring things out – boiling things down to fundamental principles where possible. This is the exact reason I love playing the piano, or learning to speak German; on the surface there is a practical and expressive part to it, but also a deeper intellectual pursuit, such as the study of linguistics, or music theory.

Secondly, I’ve found art to be a wonderful way of bringing groups of people together, to exchange and share important stories, and to honour those stories. As a young person, I particularly love doing portraits of the elderly, hearing their life stories, and learning from their perspectives. The first aspect is why I enjoy creating art, the second is the reason why I do it.

My art style has been influenced by artists such as Paul Barton, Jake Weidmann, Tri Le, Harley Brown and many other artists/calligraphers, as well as the wonderful art teachers I had at Perth Mod.

More lately, I’ve been inspired by many Australian portrait artists, both online and whom I have had the privilege of meeting or talking to. I find myself constantly inspired to learn from the countless incredible artists out there.

I’ve experimented with various mediums in the past, from wood to watercolour, but have ultimately settled on coloured pencils and pastels as my preferred mediums. Pastels in particular for me strike a balance between expressiveness and emotion & precise detail and realism. Lately, however, I’ve been mainly practicing sketching and drawing using graphite.

If you want specifics, for coloured pencils, I use Prismacolour (set of 72). For pastels, I use Rembrandt soft pastels, and Derwent Pastel Pencils on Clairefontaine Pastelmat, although I am sure my collection of pastels will grow over time…

In the past I used our fairly old Nikon D5100 DSLR camera, which I would set up on a tripod, precariously propped up by a chair. These days, my phone (Samsung S23 Ultra) generally suffices, although I sometimes still prefer the DSLR for a more cinematic feel. To edit, I used to use Adobe Premiere Pro, but now really enjoy the versatility and simplicity of InShot, a mobile app (it’s also free!)

Nowadays, I wish to find new, meaningful arts initiatives and projects to work on, as well as get involved in private calligraphy, lettering and portraiture commissions. I’m always interested in meeting new people, both to draw and to work with! Of course, I’m also kept busy by my various academic interests, and supposedly university studies.