Stephanie’s love for art and wildlife began at a young age. She grew up in Geelong and Jan Juc on the Great Ocean Road, spending holidays surfing, collecting shells and exploring rock pools. Even when her family moved back to the rolling hills of southwest England, the Australian coast continued to appear in her art.
Like many creatives, she grew up believing painting wasn’t a real career path. That belief led her to study law, international relations and later event management. But painting always called her back. She sketched while backpacking, filled visual diaries on her travels and even took commissions from classmates to decorate dorm walls. One summer in Portugal she sketched the algarve beaches, this was where she met David.
Returning to Australia together and moving to the tropics, a single trip to the Great Barrier Reef reignited her spark. The sense of wonder of this incredible place was impossible to ignore. Drifting under the sea among corals and schools of fish, then surfacing to swaying palms and salt-thick air, she felt a pull she could not resist. That energy poured onto canvas after canvas. Locals noticed. Soon she was selling out market stalls and creating commissions for clients near and far.
A move to Sydney to support family became the catalyst for painting full time. When Sydney Children’s Hospital invited her to exhibit alongside some of Australia’s top contemporary painters, all three of her works sold before opening night. For Stephanie, it was proof that others felt the same connection with the sea that she did, and that art was a possible career.
After years of exhibitions, fairs and commissions, the pace became relentless. In need of a break, Stephanie and David booked a holiday back to Port Douglas. The moment the plane doors opened and the humidity wrapped around them, they knew they had to return to the tropics.
Arriving on the eve of the first pandemic lockdown, they spent long months exploring quiet beaches and painting late into the night. Those days planted the seed for what would become SEA Gallery.
