Gran and me in the cave. We talk and shelter in the cave around my favourite rock shore, the site of an ancient midden. I am connected to my family heritage and to my childhood identification with place. (Gouache)

My lungs, my ribs. After a holiday feeling well, I succumbed to brutal flu. This painting told me more than I consciously knew- that I had cancer cells in my lung and in my bones, before I had a diagnosis. (Gouache)

Lady of the Silkworms. I paint a face to see what it says to me. This serene Chinese face with huge head-dress in two caring curves, contemplates the lifecycle of the silkworm, a short life spent eating, excreting, spinning silk, mating and dying. The result is beautiful strong silk used for myriads of purposes. (Gouache)

Back pain. I was actually painting a large version of one of my earlier images of the Hara, with golden light of life balancing my body, however, I could not remember how the front of a female body looked! I could not draw breasts and the rounded shape. Mick told me I was painting the back, not the front. Before knowing what it was all about, I felt intense pain in my back. This is what it looks like. It was then that I realized that my paintings speak for themselves, and have much to tell me. (Oil)

Prowess. Before each chemo. I tend to be anxious because it is unknown just how I will react. It is tough going. The second time I was keen to design my coffin as a dinghy, with a figure head prow (prowess) and what turned out to be a mermaid tail. I could find no-one to make the coffin for me, so in despair, I thought, "I can paint it!" The flames may be in response to my son Duncan's view that if my body is launched from Coningham Beach it might turn up at any beach across the Bay or down the Channel. His solution was "It's alright mum, we can blow you up!" I have painted flames of life, spirit and passion many times through this journey. (Oil)

Bowl of Care (1). Bowl of care is inspired by an art therapy sequence. The flame continues eternally. (Oil)

My grandmother. She grew more cheeky and humorous as she grew older, dying at 94. She enjoyed a sherry, reading Agatha Christie, violets and cyclamen. In the sixties we would kid her that for her a bikini and trousers were necessary items of clothing. (Oil)

Stained glass window. I am concerned by loss of the giant kelp seaweed forests around Tasmania. My flame theme turned into kelp fronds for a window design for St Johns Hospital. (Oil)