What was your first connection to The One Club?

I always admired the work of the artists, designers, and creatives who had won the Young Guns competition, so I entered myself in 2016. Winning Young Guns was my first connection to The One Club, and since then I have judged various competitions and I hosted a calligraphy workshop in The One Club Gallery a few years ago as well.

“Winning Young Guns was my first connection to The One Club, and since then I have judged various competitions and I hosted a calligraphy workshop in The One Club Gallery a few years ago as well.”

What did you enjoy about judging work for Young Guns, ADC, and TDC?

I love it. I always say yes when I’m invited to judge, even though it’s very labor-intensive. It’s a great way to see some of the best creative talent in the world. After 10 to 15 years in the industry, it’s a fantastic way to stay connected with what the next generation of artists and designers is creating.

I’ve discovered a lot of new talent through judging, and it allows me to re-evaluate my own standards and criteria for what constitutes quality creative work. When I see new things, new trends, or things that are challenging and interesting, it allows me to reflect and celebrate the next generation of talent.

How are you liking London?

I’ve been here about a year. I’m usually based in my art studio in Sydney, but I needed a change so I moved to London to get a master’s in neuroaesthetics, which is a combination of neuroscience, psychology, art, and design. It was really cross-disciplinary and very, very interesting.

I was keen to have a complete change of scenery from Sydney and London is iterally the opposite from Australia in terms of weather. But there’s a good energy here. The course I took is all about the brain and its experiences with beauty and aesthetics. So it was very mentally engaging. And London is great for cycling, which I love.

What is a fact you think people don’t know that you learned in your class?

If you think about art and design history, it’s often told from a historical point of view. Certain artists became prominent because they were written about, whereas, neuroaesthetics studies how our brains and bodies experience beauty and respond to images.

It’s a universal way of looking at art and design that’s quite unique and links to evolution, and different ways of observing what I am already interested in. I’m doing research in a flow state, which is about your subjective experience when you’re creating. So, it’s pretty cool.

What does being a part of an innovative community mean to you?

The community and social aspect, is so important, and over the years I’ve been able to connect with similar people online. Pre-internet, you basically had to move to New York to be connected to the creative community.

I love using online as a way to connect with people and then hang out in real life. It’s important to lift each other’s work up by attending speaking engagements and visiting other people’s studios. Seeing people make high quality, creative work is inspiring and keeps the field growing over time.

“It’s important to lift each other’s work up by attending speaking engagements and visiting other people’s studios. Seeing people make high quality, creative work is inspiring and keeps the field growing over time.”

I had a big open studio space in Sydney where people could walk in, but in London I’m still exploring and connecting with different artists and designers. There’s artists in the UK whose work I’ve followed for ages like Hattie Stewart YG15 and Kelli Anna. And neuroaesthetics opens a whole new world of more science-focused people.

How do you stay inspired when you’re feeling frustrated?

Good question. Doing challenging projects, or big, ambitious projects at the beginning of your career, comes with the thrill of doing something new, the thrill of pushing yourself and being recognized in the field, and then, over time, to be able to repeat that process requires a different set of skills. It’s always nice to see the finished product and share it, but sometimes you can get stuck. I would always prefer to be doing a challenging project than doing nothing, because the feeling of being uninspired or bored is much worse than being challenged.

What is a favorite project or client you have worked with?

This one mural I did for an exhibition about seven years ago is always the pinnacle moment I think of. It was the tipping point of years of experimenting with large-scale painting and typography, working with a team and then the final product surprised me and was better than I expected. It was a really significant moment for me as an artist.

For client work, I did an amazing project for Cedars Sinai, the medical organization in the US, about neurology. It was neuroscience report for 2025. So I had to create all these illustrations that were inspired by the brain, and how neurons behave in Alzheimer’s and different medical conditions. They are taking a spin at looking at the wonders of the human brain and how research can change that. It was an amazing illustration job, because it brought together what I was studying at the moment with my creative skills and I was really engaged with the content. 

How do you typically approach a creative project from scratch?

I’m always collecting images or noticing things before a brief or a creative project comes in – it’s very much just a part of my daily life. I capture things and stick them in big journals and diaries. I get started with loose sketching, which can be analog or digital. I start with really broad big ideas and then depending on if it’s going to be a hand-painted piece, mural, or illustration it takes on different directions. I go from sketches to maybe making Photoshop mock-ups, and then refining it over time.

I like to have big blocks of time at the beginning to get my ideas coherent and then share it. If it’s hand-painted, I’ll go on site with a team of assistants to transfer outlines and then start painting it over a number of days. And if it’s illustrative or a logo, I’ll draw on the iPad. It’s pretty fluid, because I take my work with me wherever I’m going.

I like the research phase at the beginning and the openness to explore.

Are you incorporating AI into anything?

Not so much. But I have used AI to generate different textures to incorporate into work in the ways that I would use stock images or photograph things in real life.

I’m more of a visual thinker and don’t do much writing, so I often use AI to help describe an idea. For example, I’ll tell AI about four different concepts, and ask it to incorporate inspiration from the ocean. And how that links with neurons. So that’s been really great for communicating my ideas and a skill I wouldn’t normally have.

Who is someone in the creative industry you admire?

Katarina Grosse is one artist whose work I absolutely love. She does these big painted installations that are really unique.

When you were growing up, what were your creative outlets as a kid?

I grew up in Mount Glorious, Australia, outside of Brisbane, and it was all nature. I didn’t know any artists, even through school. I don’t think anyone in my orbit was an artist, but there was creativity. My dad’s an architect and builder, and my mom was a kindergarten teacher. So they both brought a creative mind and approach.

If I think back to being a kid I loved to paint and draw, and be outside. The prospect of being a graphic designer and illustrator was never a concept to me. So I ended up going to law school and then dropping out and switching to design two years later, and I felt a lot more alive.

“I ended up going to law school and then dropping out and switching to design two years later, and I felt a lot more alive.”

What is your go-to Spotify playlist when you need to focus and get work done?

So I make these playlists that all start with “Ultra.” One of the first was “Ultra Artists,” because I was training for an ultra marathon, but I was also really into art, so I would run to art galleries. I make them based on where I am, so right now, “Ultra London” or “Ultra Sydney.” If I want like a boost, I’ll listen to my “Ultra Artists Boost” playlist. If I need to switch from work mode to relaxation, I put on “Ultra Recovery.”

If you could give a younger version of you a piece of advice, what would it be?

Oh, that’s good! Trust your gut and embrace all your weird interests and incorporate them into what you do. Ultimately things always go better when you just stay true to what really interests you.

“Trust your gut and embrace all your weird interests and incorporate them into what you do.”

You recently hosted a three day painting masterclass in the Netherlands – what was the focus?

The masterclass was focused on creating graphic poster paintings inspired by the seasons, but in a non-traditional way. We live in an unpredictable time for weather, and artists have long been inspired by these changes. Participants explored this through typography and hand-painted illustrations and created posters over the three days.

When you’re not working, what are you doing?

I love wandering around and riding my bike around new cities. And traveling, having an espresso. I have an espresso and it’s my way to explore new places. I like to go to drawing classes back in Australia. I like to swim, be outdoors, and go to the art galleries.

If you had an unlimited budget to host your next One Club Gallery event, what would it entail?

I would create a full-scale painting installation and invite members of the club to help bring it to life. I would bring in members from all over the world, with all levels of painting skills — from novice to professional. Using our hands, bodies, and minds in sync is a great way to connect and create something beautiful.

What are you up to now?

I am returning to Australia to create a new series of paintings over the Australian summer.