“I have long been fascinated by the pieces my mother has been collecting and keeping in her china cabinet, hidden away because they are so precious and treasured. Of all of them, the hand-painted teacups and tea set made for her and given to her by her Godmother, Flora Landells, have been my particular obsession.

Flora Landells painted one place setting for each of Mum’s birthdays when she was growing up. An art teacher, artist, potter and businesswoman in Perth, Western Australia, Flora worked extensively in the Arts. She established her own Art school and set up a successful pottery and business that she ran with her husband.

Mum has two of Landells’ tea sets. The first set depicts six wildflowers from Western Australia and is typical of Landells’ work after World War II when she concentrated on painting wildflowers realistically. The second set is painted with ornamental flower designs.

Making paintings of these ceramic pieces led me to find more connections with the women in my family; my grandmother, Ethel, was a student of Flora Landells’ at school and learnt to paint ceramics from her - we are lucky to still have several pieces of hers. Ethel also loved magnolias, featuring them in her wedding bouquet, which might explain my own obsession. My mother is a printmaker, studying at University at the same time I was doing my Art Education degree. My sister is a multi-disciplinary stylist and designer. The art centre in my high school at the time I attended was named after Flora Landells who had been the school’s art teacher for many years. Flora also taught Art at Perth College where I was also an art teacher. At one time, I also had a small business painting ceramics.

The process of working on these paintings took me out of the familiar space of my own home and studio and into the homes of my family where these ceramics reside. It’s made me work where the light has been quite different, observing the changes during my visit and seeing the ceramics in their domestic settings, enriched by their surroundings. For the first time, these interior spaces have become subject matter for my work, giving the ceramics context and showing how their owners have curated and styled them within the home.

So many connections and influences, all of them leading me here to this body of work.”