My enamel works begin with a photograph, often something from my own garden. I like to capture new plant hybrids that are not widely known or represented in art: An Echeveria Afterglow in the late afternoon light, a Mangave hybrid rarely found in Australia or an Aloe Polyphilla in full spiral - one of my favourite subjects. That image is edited, printed as an iron oxide ceramic decal, and transferred onto reclaimed whiteboard steel — industrial offcuts diverted from manufacturing waste. From there, the work is built up through layers of vitreous enamel and other compatible materials that can be fired. Some are hand-coloured with china paint or mason stains in a more painterly style. Some incorporate glass stringers, silver foil, or the reflective glass beads used to mark roads. Each firing is an experiment. Each result informs the next.

My recent work pushes further into the intersection of traditional enamel and digital process, including laser engraving — a technique I am continuing to research and am committed to sharing with other artists locally, nationally, and internationally.

The garden functions as a laboratory alongside the studio. I grow what I am curious about — agaves, mangaves, echeverias, native and edibles — and I trial plants the way I trial techniques: repeatedly, patiently, and with genuine curiosity about what works and what doesn’t. Sustainability is not a theme I add to the work; it is built into how the work is made.

Process photos for ‘Plenty More Fish in the Sea’ inspired by photograph by Yusheng Deng (Unsplash).