THE HAND BEHIND THE PENCIL AND PAINT

This is the hand, heart and face behind Colour and Quill:

My name is Ilse van Staden and I am a veterinarian immigrant artist-cum-writer currently living in the second-language (English) environment of Lake Macquarie City, New South Wales, Australia. I spent the first forty years of my life in South Africa, where I acquired (not necessarily in chronological order):

• a love of arts
• a degree in Veterinary Science
• a collection of dogs and cats
• a bigger collection of books and paintings
• a degree in Creative Writing
• a husband