My favourite subject at primary school was Bible Studies. Not on account of any deep religious feelings. I simply loved the Old Testament’s edgy stories. I was also fascinated, as a child, by Persian miniatures, Aztec sculpture and folk art from around the world. I loved drawing my own versions of these.

I was raised in Joburg in the 1960s by an art teacher mother and a linguist father. In my early 20s I moved to London to seek political asylum as a conscientious objector. I lived there for nearly 20 years. During that time, I trained at London University’s Bartlett School of Architecture. In the UK I earned a living as a writer, cartoonist and children’s book illustrator.

I returned to South Africa in the late 1990s, where I worked as a graphic designer. In 2014, I created a collection of over 50 greeting cards using reinvented Victorian wildlife illustrations. This led, in 2017, to illustrations employing the same technique for the children’s book The All Africa Wildlife Express (written by Rosamund Haden and published by Tafelberg). I have also collaborated with meditation teacher Sue Cooper on a range of Buddhist card decks and stationery.

During the same period, I explored digital painting, sculpting with found objects, and designing animal-themed fabrics to upcycle furniture.

Most recently, I have begun working with oil and acrylic on canvas and have rediscovered the magic of my childhood world in my paintings of totemic animals.