Think Photography

It was a joy to explore Karwarra Australian Native Botanic Gardens on a sunny winter’s afternoon!

View of Melbourne city from the top of Mount Dandenong on a winter’s day!

Photos taken during a waterfall trek on a winters afternoon in Olinda, Victoria.

Winters walk through George Tindale Memorial Gardens today 🌳🍁🦋

Photos taken at Tonle Sap's floating villages in Siem Reap, Cambodia - my first experience of a floating village!

Galahs also know as pink and grey cockatoos are an Australian native bird, it was nice to catch them enjoying themselves ☀️🦜

From photos to canvas! This collection features some of my favorite locations around Victoria. And while you're used to seeing my photographs of these places, today I'm sharing them as paintings.

​As a blind painter, this is a huge first for me with my Think Photography family and I’d love to know your thoughts on what locations (from my photos!) you think I should bring to life through paint next!

Tell me what you think!

"Painting Our Journey to Life"

Before I became blind, painting was my main hobby and passion, and one of my favourite ways to unwind. But when I landed in Blind Land, I honestly didn’t know whether I’d ever be able to paint in the same way again. It definitely felt uncertain for a long time, and in many ways, maybe even impossible.

But rediscovering my love of painting recently has been nothing short of magic. And a huge part of that magic has come from my art teacher, Sarah.

The teamwork and communication we share has opened doors I never thought I’d walk through again. Her ability to guide me, describe things in ways that make sense to my hands and my imagination, and translate visual concepts into tactile language has allowed me to paint in ways I never imagined possible. She has given me the confidence to trust my instincts again - and that has been life‑changing.

And while I’ve had to learn how to paint all over again, leaning more into memory, touch, and imagination instead of sight, that rediscovery has become its own kind of adventure. With the joy of picking up a brush again has come the ability to showcase my favourite places in Victoria (Australia), and the realisation that this part of me never actually disappeared along with my sight - and that has been incredibly powerful.

What has made it even more special is having my little boy involved and by my side as I’ve been taking this journey.

Because RP may have robbed my ability to see, but now I have my own little GPS guiding me through the world in his own way. And when we visit gardens or wander through new places, he shows me what he loves, what he notices, and what makes him stop in his tracks. And through him, I get to reconnect with these places in a completely new way - almost like reliving my very first visits, but this time through his joy and curiosity. And it is so cute.

And then when we go home and I get to paint these places, he sits with me and explores the colours and shapes with his hands right alongside me, and he likes to help me choose what colour will come next. And as I paint, we learn together - through simple words like “flower,” “tree,” “sky,” “leaf.”

I describe the things I’m painting, and he connects them to the things he sees when we’re out and about. And sure, it’s messy and quite funny at times, but that’s also what makes it absolutely perfect.

Because recreating the places that we visit together - the gardens, the paths, the little pockets of beauty that we find, has become a way for me to blend my old memories with his new ones. And painting them becomes a way for both of us to hold onto those moments for a lifetime.

And now, I just can’t wait to keep exploring more of the wonders of Victoria with him... one adventure, and one painting, at a time.

And p.s: having done over 20 paintings now, I am so excited to be able to share them soon in an upcoming exhibition - to showcase just how much a person with RP can actually achieve!

Photos taken during my visit to the southernmost tip of South Australia. There’s nothing quite like the raw energy of the coast down here in Port MacDonnell.

Photos taken at Blue Lake, Mount Gambier, South Australia, on a very cold autumn evening..

Photos taken by me on an overcast day at Nigretta Falls, Victoria - and heading into winter, our water is still quite scarce - and Nigretta Falls shows it. I’ve seen this waterfall many times, and it usually roars with power. Today, its flow is a reminder of just how little rain we’ve had.