I feel like when we’re kids, we all draw, and everyone’s so open and honest with their creativity. Somewhere along the line, the majority of people put their pencils down and start using the phrase ‘Oh, I can’t draw’. Some kids just never put the pencil down.
I do the majority of my drawing and painting in my cat-ridden apartment in sunny/rainy/fierce mild Melbourne, Australia. It’s a spectacular city for creative types, because any time you find yourself troubled with artist’s block, you can wander down to a nearby cafe and eavesdrop on the incredible sea of ideas flowing from the local inhabitants.
I take my inspiration from nature, the beautiful people in my city, my love for animation and pop art, and cultural influences from my time living both in Kyoto and in Australia’s suburban jungle. I work with inks, copic markers, pencils, watercolours and whatever else happens to be lying around.
While I enjoy writing short comics and painting, my biggest project to date has been I Do Not Have An Eating Disorder – an autobiographical account of my experience with anorexia nervosa, depression and anxiety. It started as a self-directed art therapy exercise to help me out of a medication-induced creative block, and as a tool to help me to explain my struggles to my partner. It has turned into a way for me to process my emotional journey and to reach out to others with similar stories. I also write the ongoing comic Polyamory Isn’t For Everyone, about a significant relationship from my past. My hope is that writing this story will help me to truly process everything that happened, and to finally move on.
I believe that every story is unique and worth telling. I can only tell my own, with the tools I have.
