Rhonda Campbell - People of O-Town

“Art has been a part of my life since I was a very small child. All through school I'd won art prizes and that sort of thing, so I was continually doing art. I had a grandmother who was an artist and it came out in my sister and me and my brother — he does sculpture.

“I went to boarding school here in Orange, then to the National Art School at Taylor Square, Sydney; I was there for five years and did my Diploma of Education.

“I taught in Parkes and Narrabri and then I taught design in England. I came back to Orange as a married woman and taught at Kinross, later Kinross Wolaroi.

“I also had a boutique for 25 years called La Bottega in Byng Street.

“Since I retired in 2000, I've been full time artist, I'm a landscape painter and printmaker.

“I travel a lot and the colours of the Australian outback are amazing, it certainly is inspiring and one of my favourite places to go. 

“For me, art is an addiction; I have to paint nearly every day. It is in the blood, I guess. I like to exhibit, I like to show people what I'm doing and I hope they can understand what I'm doing — I think Art is to be shared.”