"It's only when you look back on the chapters of your life do you realise the speed at which each chapter raced, and how each chapter challenged, changed and grew you. It reminds me of how a sand storm blows tiny sand particles across desert dunes, changing and transforming the shape of the desert so that the desert no longer resembles what it once was, or will ever be again. The first chapter of my life was about teaching art before I married and began a family, and then an unimaginable curveball changed my direction. When my husband was diagnosed with life-threatening cancer I researched the link between diet and disease and how we might build a strong immune system to support the recovery from cancer and cancer treatments. I packed  my paints away and began developing recipes with organic health foods. Over the next 18 years my recipes became 22 best-selling healthy-eating cookbooks published globally.  I opened two health restaurants and worked with food manufacturers and appliance manufacturers to create food products and appliances for a new generation of health conscious. I travelled internationally promoting my cookbooks which were best-sellers in New Zealand, USA and the UK.

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When my husband passed, in 2006, 26 years after his first diagnosis, from a totally unrelated second cancer, I set off on a solo travel experience to discover who I would become in the next chapter of my life. I discovered a love of writing and produced my debut novel, 'Seagulls on the Ganges'. I took up photography and a love affair of looking through the lens of a camera began. My camera is now my constant companion.

And then, the day came when my art called me back and I raced off to purchase a supply of paint, brushes and canvases and the next chapter of my life began.