The last thing that I ever thought I would be doing was teaching in a high school. When I finished my Fine Arts degree at the National Art School, I discovered I loved sharing my passion for Visual Arts which then led me to signing up for a Master of Teaching at the University of Sydney. Even then, I still had no firm teaching aspirations, but once I was in the classroom it was as if I had always been teaching. Seeing the excitement of my students as we made their creative visions become a reality, my enthusiasm grew for teaching and showing others the role art can play in our lives.

Visual Arts, I believe, can transform society and teaching it is very exciting. I get to teach what I love in a field that is constantly changing and challenging. Art contributes significantly to every culture. It is one of the most important platforms of human expression, expressing values, beliefs, and ideas embraced by people from around the world. Art helps us to make sense of the world in which we live, and more so in our contemporary society than ever before. Our dependence on visual imagery is essential in communicating and understanding the information we need to live our lives.

Talent is not a prerequisite to being an artist. You already are an artist; you just have to believe, explore and discover what being an artist is for you. Art allows you to embrace failure as your strength, challenges your thinking, electrifies your senses and captures your emotions.

I am interested in embedding Indigenous ways of learning into Visual Arts. There is so much we can learn from the oldest living society in the world, so much knowledge that we have barely unpacked in wider Australian culture. My hope is that I can build relationships with the Indigenous communities, their elders and artists in order to deepen the learning experience offered in the curriculum.