Why do you think you became the person that you are today?
We moved a lot for my father’s work when I was a child – there was a sense of adventure, curiosity and independence to our family’s travels that must have had an impact.
What was your first job?
Babysitting from age 13 and from 14 a counter assistant in a deli. My first professional job was assistant curator at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia.
What are your top three traits?
Excessive friendliness, super talkative and a very high embarrassment threshold.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
All of the above.
What is one of the best memories you have?
Swimming in the Indian Ocean at Rottnest Island, Western Australia – feeling very comfortable underwater, as if I was in my natural element.
What’s something that would surprise people about you?
I’m not at all confident – I think few of us really are, we are just doing the best we can.
What’s one of the most important lessons you’ve learned from the past?
Where you are could be the right place for right now, even if it’s not where you expected to be.
When and where were you the happiest?
Anytime on the cliff at Weybourne, North Norfolk, with family and friends.
What else do you hope to achieve in your lifetime?
I’m doing a part-time PhD at Norwich University of the Arts, researching the work and teaching of the artist Roger Ackling. I want to finish it and next year, make an exhibition of his work at Norwich Castle. I can’t see far beyond that for the moment.
Who has had the biggest influence on you in your life?
My husband, Joe. He's a steadfast friend, brilliant designer, hilarious companion – he says the clever things quietly and I repeat them, louder.
How would the people you spent the most time with describe you?
I dare not think – but I love them, so I hope they would be forgiving and kind.
What is the best piece of advice that you’ve ever received?
Be more dog.
What’s your biggest fear in life?
Losing the people I love. Having been a lousy mum and step-mum. Having wasted time in regret. The list goes on.
Your 'bucket list' top three things are?
Seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland, exploring James Turrell’s Roden Crater in Arizona, a long road trip across the Top End of Australia.
What’s one of the most amazing things you’ve seen on your travels?
Saltwater crocodiles. It’s always sobering to go places where you are not at the top of the food chain.
What was the biggest lesson you learned?
Your ‘no’ gives value to your ‘yes’ – haven’t quite learnt it yet, but I’m trying.
If your friends were writing an autobiography of you, what would they call it?
Overcommitted: Confessions of a Plate Spinner.
What keeps you motivated and inspired?
I have been singing with The Voice Project for many years. Singing together brings great joy and a valuable shift in perspective. At choir I am not a curator, student, wife, mother or daughter – I’m just an Upper Alto, and I love that.
Do you have a book or podcast you'd recommend to our readers ?
Anything by Tim Winton, perhaps Cloud Street, which is set in the streets of Perth where I spent my early 20s.
What’s a hidden secret in East Anglia?
The Cut at Halesworth is hidden in plain sight. Up on the top floor they run an excellent exhibition programme in one of my favourite spaces.
Your favourite restaurant is?
The Gunton Arms – for the brazen decadence of it all.
If you could invite any six people to a dinner party, who would they be?
Michelle Obama, Cate Blanchett, Rebecca Lucy Taylor (Self Esteem), The Singh Twins, Edmund de Waal and, of course, David Attenborough - I sat next to him a few times at Lisa Sainsbury’s birthday celebrations – how I would love to talk to him again.
What is something you want to be remembered for?
Dancing like a teenager. Oh, and being a fierce supporter of artists and exhibitions in our region.
What do you want to tell our readers?
Come see and hear the Voice Project perform The Distance Between Us, at St Andrew’s Hall Norwich Saturday, January 28 – 6pm and 8pm. It will be magical. voiceproject.co.uk
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