I have been creative for as long as I can remember. Many of my experiences growing up were captured with a story, drawing or painting and I still have a visual diary that I created when I was 8 years old on a family holiday.

Unfortunately, I never studied art at school as I was worried that I would ‘get it wrong’ after a teacher in Grade 4 criticised me in front of the whole class for using the wrong colours when I painted a tree. It may have stopped me from learning about art at school, but it didn’t stop me from creating everywhere else.

Since leaving school, I have lived all over Australia in every state (except Tasmania) so my creative work has always been influenced by the different things that I have seen in my explorations. I have always gravitated towards the amazing variety of colours in Australia.

In my paintings I am not chasing reality; instead, I am hoping to capture the boldness and energy of the colour that surrounds us. Recently I have been using gouache to create my paintings as I find the bright, bold colours complement the way that I see Australia. My dream is to keep painting and show the rest of the world just how lucky we are.

~ Bec Gee