It’s been brewing for some time. I’ve always romanticised the idea of a New York-style loft studio—big windows, paint-splattered floors, a sense of possibility. But for the past few years, my studio has lived quietly in the suburbs. And recently, that quiet began to feel a little isolating.

I debated. I overthought. (Yes, classic indecisive Libran behaviour.) I drove my husband slightly mad. But in the end, I did it—I bought an artwork! And it got me thinking about why art (or, really, beautiful things) matter in our lives.

In 2018, I took a mixed media artist’s workshop with teachers Rosenclaire in Italy. We did exercises like photomontage, where we placed a colourful animal or object into a setting—one interior and one exterior—while being mindful of vanishing points and light sources. This is where Pet Cemetery was born. It started as a collage, then a print, and eventually a painting. Collage lets me use found images to create new narratives, going beyond simply using photos as references.

Let's be honest, living a charmed existence with 9 months of summer in South Africa makes winter feel like a shock to the system.

If you're not a cold-weather person (like me), hibernation might seem like your only option.