A passion that keeps me up at night...

I've spent the whole of my life drawing and painting with watercolours. I used it to de-stress and to inspire. I'd look for wild animals and birds when I was young, then use books to paint them in my sketch pad.

When I started my PhD in the lab it was satisfying, though it was always black or white - positive results or negative results -and I longed for shades of grey!

My parents had bought me a starter kit of oil paints and I'd thrown them in a drawer somewhere. But I dug them out and started to experiment by painting my hands in the mirror- they started my passion for using oils. I used to come home late from the lab, eat my dinner then spent the night painting - I don't know how my husband put up with me!

Before we went to Melbourne, I took endless photos of one of my friends Lindsay. He was a man of few words, and I thought I could sum him up with a triptych. I spent the whole time in Melbourne working on it as you can see. The last time I lifted my brush to it was the night before my injury...