Totoro card by Kayla in Scarborough

I’m a Perth-based artist who started out doing oil painting portraits in high school. I was drawn to this style because, like many artists, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Accuracy and precision are some of my strongest skills. I can mimic styles and ideas by eye as if they were traced. The slow-drying qualities of oil paint allowed me to tweak and retouch my portraits until they truly captured the essence of the subject. Fast-forward a couple of years, and I’ve moved on oil portraits, instead branching out to explore my style in different mediums. I take inspiration from the world around me, with a focus on creating cohesive and thoroughly thought out designs, often incorporating details and themes inspired by the location and story behind the work. Contrast and vibrance are key traits found in much of my work. I work to capture the 'soul' and 'essence' of a person or place in my art. By staying in tune with the atmosphere of my designs, I can strive to create unique and dynamic pieces that accentuate their space rather than upstaging it. Having worked in bars and restaurants for almost 12 years now, I understand a lot of heart and soul goes in to building and running our Perth hospitality scene, and how important it is for venue managers and directors to achieve an atmosphere that really represents them, their business, and their clientele. I work to achieve the same level of heart and soul in each of my pieces by making them truly customised to the location their designed for. I also use this approach for local community art projects I like to undertake in my spare time. I have been doing chalkboard art at my workplace as needed, and as my skills improved, I found I’ve really enjoyed making on-the-spot designs. While at work, I’ve rarely been given the opportunity or materials to draft and measure out these designs before I undertake them, hence the improper spacing and occasional crooked line in my chalkboard portfolio pictures. Please note, the result is very different once I have access to a little more time and a ruler (you should be able to pick which ones). As a bonus, I have experience as a house painter, having been hired for a few renovation jobs in Newman. This work has provided a great base for mural painting. I’m familiar with a broad range of surfaces and how to properly prepare them. Including superficial mold and rust removal, sanding, proper priming, etc. This gives my work a clean, and lasting finish once completed.