Between Words

Painting has been my companion throughout my life. Every stage of my journey has found its way onto my canvases, shaped by love, family, loss, discovery and joy. My artistic path began many years ago through school and teacher training, but it has always been life itself that has been my greatest teacher. When my son Richard was just three years old, I lost both my parents on the same day. Painting became my refuge, helping me make sense of grief and allowing me to look more deeply at the world around me. Later, when my husband Philip, my son and I discovered diving, another world opened before us. The sea, the light and the landscape of Gozo inspired my en plein air paintings and transformed the way I saw colour and nature. After many holidays here, we made Gozo our permanent home in 1998. The island became part of who I am, and that connection has remained at the heart of my work ever since. In January 2026, after fifty-seven years together, I lost Philip—my husband, my closest friend and my greatest companion. Watching him slowly fade was heartbreaking. Once again, painting became my way through the darkness. My emotions poured onto the canvas before I even understood what was happening. Gradually, something unexpected began to emerge. A new direction appeared. Bright, saturated colours, together with gold and silver leaf, entered my work naturally, as though they had been waiting to be discovered. These paintings seem to come from somewhere beyond conscious thought. They reveal themselves to me as much as they do to the viewer. That is why this exhibition is called Between Worlds. It speaks of the space between loss and hope, memory and presence, the visible and the invisible. It is a place of transformation. I want to make art from the heart—art that fills me with wonder, beauty and a sense of joyful elevation. I would even call it spiritual. For me, painting is an act of discovery, revealing realities I never knew existed before. There is no single way to look