Tricia grew up on the beautiful Devonshire coast of England. She spent summers on the beach, and autumns climbing the family trees to harvest the apples. It wasn’t until she attended college in Bristol that she started to love drawing and painting, adorning her friends’ walls with murals, and later helping young students to understand their school science curriculum by fitting in time to observe and draw. She achieved her first Best in Show award in West London, featuring a seaside lady enjoying the beach – a first of many ocean-themed pieces that would consume her creativity. After relocating to the US, she discovered her love for scuba diving and the beauty and diversity of underwater life, using the images to blend all their details in creative ways. Travelling to strange reefs meant interacting with different local communities and photographing their lives and cultures. Years later she moved to Topanga Canyon, and became passionate about the flora & fauna of her own California garden which was wild and native. This became another way to be creative, as any individual plant could become “reinterpreted”.
Living close to the sea, I have loved to wander - in fact I MUST wander - with my eyes down, looking for… what? Well, ask any artist and they will agree that there is so much to observe, to pick up, to stare at and to delight in - sea shells that are broken but remain lovely, pebbles and sea glass and plants that are different from those in the garden, kids playing in the sand, and what is left after the tide has turned. So yes, I am an artist who loves nature and its unusual surprises. My matilija poppies are not there for long, so I photograph them to be experimented on back in the studio, usually ending up in acrylic or mixed media abstracts. Lately, I’ve been affected by a particular tree, with its spring blossoms that I have loved so much and can’t stop working on - if only I could include their perfume in my work!
