I was recently asked if I could shift one of my sculptures to a new home. One that I had carved (with hand tools, those were the days!) in 1980, the year after I left art college. A fairly large stone sculpture for me at the time, it represents the strength of womanhood and her fight, and call, for freedom and equality. It's a theme that reappears in my work every now and then. A reminder of Gaia's presence and the importance of acknowledging the female aspect, the anima, within me. This sculpture - 'The Ecstasy - A Virtuous Woman' was exhibited on the lawns of a major gallery and then at Brisbane's major spring festival, Warana (at that time). It won the sculpture section and the following year was featured on the festival's poster (see below).  At another exhibition in the city, it was vandalised and broken into three pieces.The owners of the precinct felt bad about this and gave me a significant commission in bronze and sandstone. That artwork gave me the confidence to create a major commission, a miners' memorial for Blackwater in Central Queensland, in bronze and granite. That commission enabled me to purchase my studios at Cedar Creek, where I still live and work today.

I kept delaying the repair of The Ecstasy, until a client who already owned a couple of my sculptures, mentioned she would be interested in purchasing the sculpture if I could put her back together again. I did, and it has been appreciated by my client and her family and friends ever since.

It was lovely to reacquaint myself with the sculpture and her lovely owners and move her to her new home, where the story continues. I admit I felt the emotions going through me that day. And I thanked the Universe for choosing me to be a sculptor.