People sometimes ask why I left England, why I ended up on the ocean for three years, the New Mexico high desert, and now in the forests and mountains of Puerto Rico, why nature and my painting became so central to my life.
My painting and digital work have documented my travels and life. I was born in the 1960s to Zoroastrian parents in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa, and moved to Wimbledon, home of the Wombles, in London, UK, at the age of ten.
Preparing for the arrival of the muse is akin to preparing for a cherished guest; it’s an act steeped in ritual and intentionality. I begin by sharpening my pencils to a fine point, each twist of the sharpener echoing the focus I am seeking to attain.
One might think it’s the fear of the unknown, a common human response towards the unseen dangers that could lurk within the forest’s leafy maze. BUT IT IS NOT. It is the fear of the KNOWN — the stark realities and chilling anecdotes that are the shared burden of women worldwide.
In l995, the Heraclitus left Miami and headed across the Atlantic, then through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, where coral studies commenced in Jordan and then Hurgada, Egypt. Jacques Cousteau’s old underwater site was visited. All data gathered was sent to Dr. Dustan’s laboratory.
