I spent my early childhood traveling in a caravan with my parents and sister for 2.5 years around the outback of Australia, so a feeling of freedom and wondering what was over the next horizon became entrenched in my consciousness. The vibrant natural colours of the Australian Outback are reflected in my paintings. In my youth we lived on farms in subtropical valleys behind Byron Bay. Wedge tailed eagles soared over the mountains, and black cockatoos would screech as they flew down the valleys. Huge flash floods would roar down the creeks every autumn. And the massive swells crashing on the beach would echo off the hillsides. I started surfing early at 5 and by 14 my life was about the waves and the ocean.The changing colours of the mountains and the ocean, and the life in the forests and under the ocean surface is so vivid and changes so rapidly that if you blink you can miss a magical moment. I've seen lightning split trees in half and have had a huge humpback whale's surface 5 m away. Close enough to see their huge eyes watching me as their calf swam in front of them. I've had dolphins jumping out of the waves in front of me as I surfed behind them. Those images and moments are engrained forever in my mind. The natural vibrant beauty I've witnessed in my travels is what I want to be able to translate into art on canvas to share with others those experiences.

The biggest artistic influences I have would firstly be my Grandmother and my Grand Uncle. I grew up admiring their paintings which were hung around our family home. I remember spending 3 hours looking at every canvas my great uncle had in his studio and talking about the feeling and emotions expressed in each painting. One stood out as being the most vivid and emotionally charged, a few months later my Grand uncle and Aunt visited and he presented me with this painting. He said I was the only person who had ever understood the emotions inside that work. I was honored and it's one of my greatest treasures. One of my grandmother's paintings hangs over the head of my bed, I feel she is still watching over me. I have older family paintings from her grand uncle, abstract watercolors from 1911 painted during his travels in Egypt along the Nile. And as an artist who can not be influenced by Picasso and Salvador Dali, I love their work.

Success as an artist for me is having someone purchase your work because they feel something in that piece relates to them personally, and because they believe it's something they treasure as an heirloom which can be passed down through successive generations of their family. I remember having a conversation with a guy who was visiting Byron Bay on holidays and he was staying next door to my home. He was talking about how he had bought an amazing piece at a gallery that day that he believed he would pass onto his children. When we both realized he was talking about one of my pieces it was a very special moment for me.

When I first wanted to start painting I asked my Grand Uncle who I respected greatly and I really admired his work. How do I start? He replied by saying ' pick up a brush and start painting'. I believe an artist lets the work evolve through the brush and medium used. The more I paint the more the paintings evolve, they become more detailed and more emotional. The emotions flow into the piece capturing that moment of life.

Dream projects evolve I guess, because after creating one piece you were dreaming about forever, once it's completed your mind creates something infinitely greater. Right now I have an image of a madman driver careening down a highway of life, the roadsides a reflection of ancient architecture symbolizing the madness of modern life, our moment now is a reflection of yesterday and influences tomorrow.

The inspiration behind my latest work is the feeling of speeding through life. The years speeding past like a blur fading into thousands of years of past history and experiences.

I don't have any specific theme or message, maybe it's to empathize more with the people around you, everyone has hidden emotions and feelings. Be nice, be kind to one another. Everyone is human, show humanity to everyone. Everything around us is part of a greater reason for life. We need to take care of the world we live in and of one another.

I always carry a notebook, pen or pencil. So any time I have some thought or idea I write it down or sketch the design or picture. Or take photos. Then later I will develop that initial first idea into a full composition. Sometimes years later. I keep all my notebooks and sketches.

Sometimes when you have a block and don't feel you can continue with a piece of art it's best to have a break. Go for a surf, spend some time with other people, then approach it again with a different mindset and try to get back into that emotional zone so the colours match the feelings you are trying to portray.

If you want to soar with the eagles, don't sit with the chickens.