About Me

Born in Western Australia, Lindsay grew up fishing and diving in and around the beautiful Indian Ocean. She caught her first fish at age five from a jetty on a trip to Victor Harbor (it was a Sweep) and from that moment was fascinated with aquatic creatures. She learned to dive at age thirteen and, shortly after, took a diving trip to Ningaloo reef. It was then that she decided to devote her life to the study of the marine environment, sharks in particular. After graduating from Murdoch University with honours in Marine Science, Lindsay went on to study with the CSIRO at the University of Tasmania where she attained a Ph.D. in shark morphology and fisheries science. She is also a published shark taxonomist. Lindsay has had no formal artistic training, besides tertiary school art classes where her final piece was chosen for the ‘Year 12 Perspectives 1998’ exhibition at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. However, she has been painting and drawing since the age of seven, and has worked professionally under the pseudonym ‘Stick Figure Fish’ since 2003.

As an artist, she has drawn influence from other natural history artists such as Roger Swainston, Elizabeth Gould, John William Lewin, Christopher Pope and George Coates. Lindsay has completed illustrations for many scientific publications and texts including, a key to Australian Myctophids (with CSIRO) and a book cover for “Economically important sharks and rays Indonesia” by W.T. White. Her most significant published work to date is 'Rays of the World' by CSIRO Press, the first illustrated guide to all extant species of ray. The Tree of Life Project will be Lindsay’s debut large-scale illustration project. Lindsay uses a digital tablet to create taxonomically accurate sketches of each specimen and then transfers the sketch to watercolour paper where she paints the final image using an acrylic medium.

Lindsay’s artistic philosophy is of technical vividness. She has a great respect for each animal that she paints and endeavors to represent each individual with accuracy, integrity, and a vivid life force. She believes in the importance of documenting natural history, as many of the species that she paints may not exist in the near future. What Lindsay would ultimately like to accomplish with her art is to inspire a sense of wonder about the natural world through her paintings and, in doing so, motivate people to value and conserve the natural world.

Listen to an interview with Lindsay on ABC Radio National's Books and Arts Program here.