I have a very varied background spanning 4 countries and several disciplines. My schooling was in Classics and Literature. Law was my training and my career, working in the New Zealand Government in our capital, Wellington. On the sidelines, I walked the high country of central New Zealand and produced artworks for exhibition and sale, so my pieces found homes throughout NZ and in some other countries, too. To read my Blog about my journey in art, click HERE.

I own a beautiful lifestyle block (with a ton of work attached) that belonged to my parents. It has a bush backdrop, animals and rare breeds poultry. For 10 years I looked after my mom here with Alzheimers Disease. Now at last I am reshaping my life so I can do what I've always wanted - Art, Graphics and a bit of Writing. YAY!

On the left you will see links to my websites, blogs and businesses. It's a work in progress. I freelance in graphic design and webdesign on the Internet. My main client is Community Enabler, the company behind the Cagora Social and Business Network, which offers a worldwide network of Local Worlds and Worlds of Interest. I also have a small online hosting business with my programming partner Scotty in Costa Mesa, CA.

I design websites from scratch. I am not a Dreamweaver aficionado - I get my hands dirty with the real HTML and CSS stuff.   Having both graphics and HTML skills gives me a special talent for customising templates, and especially graphics-based templates.  So if you have bought a template that you love, but some parts of it don't quite fit your concept, I can help you.

And did I tell you my webdesign and webgraphics site is HERE ?   ;-).

  For Internet Graphics, I offer high quality design for banners, headers, logos, eBook graphics, flash graphics, CDs and 3D boxes, 3D worlds, buddy icons and avatars, and website icons.

  For Offline Graphics, my Portfolio is HERE at the Aotearoa Shop Website.

I've been involved in Art and Graphics since I could hold a pencil, but bowed to family pressure to get a "real job".   Ah me - how many of us have done THAT...?   All through my career as a busy government lawyer, I produced, exhibited and sold art "on the side", my inspiration fed by all those weekends and holidays spent in the high country or on the family farmlet.

After I'd left the Law and moved up to my family's property, I farmed dairy goats for a while. Then I opened an offline Graphic Design and Desktop Publishing business in Kerikeri, my nearest small town. That was doing nicely but it lasted only for 18 months. My mother's failing health made it impossible for me to carry on away from home, so I shut it down. One door after another began to close on me.

Thank goodness for the Internet!   Here was my chance to open a window on the world and it's enabled me to carry on doing what I dearly love. Where there's a will, there's a way, as they say...

Here are a few UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS about my work:

"Thank you so much for the banners. They really are fantastic. Your work is A1." John Taylor Great Canada Exit Exchange

"I'm like, totally shocked and amazed! These are great! You have talent lady! My wife and I like this one best but the one you made before this is good too. Wow Patricia! This is far better than I could have imagined." "Excellent...Excellent..Excellent!!! Thank you, thank you. Dang yer good!" Mike Evangelo Former Owner NewSafelists.com MLMRegistry.com

"You are the best of the best at what you do - BAR NONE !!" Samuel S Alascio Snr Internet Entrepreneur "How To" Computer Books Author

"And I checked out some of YOUR sites listed in your signature, very kewl. Feel free to add them ......they'd be a welcome relief from all the bad graphics out there on the net. "Your stuff is great, some of the best I've seen. And maybe you can get some extra business for yourself. I was a graphic designer here in the U.S. for many years..." Internet Business Owner

Here are a few UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS about my art:

I have your fern on the wall in the dining room. It is my favourite. You must be getting good dollars for your art now. Do you do prints? How much eg? "At present how are you selling and are you doing limited edition prints?" PML, Hunter Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

"Wow! Your work is incredibly beautiful and even haunting. I am fascinated by the detail you bring. You get inside the animals don't you? "I also noticed how as beautiful as they are you often show women as vulnerable and exposed -unsafe. Very interesting and the colors are breathtaking!" Kim Bloomer Albuquerque, NM Aspenbloom Pet Care Bark-n-Blog

"Dear Patricia, So many want to look at the painting you sent I want to download a copy. I cannot print it in the format sent. Would you please send it as an attachment then I can print a copy. We like it that much. Regards," Trevor Crabtree, Bushman and Balladier Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.