Hello,

I'm Billie. Long before I ever picked up a paintbrush, country life had already shaped who I was. My early twenties were spent riding horses, working at the saleyards, travelling the rodeo circuit across NSW and somehow squeezing it in all around a university degree. A few years later, I headed away to work on a cattle station in Far NQ where I met my partner, Tim. We eventually came home, bought our little place on acreage and started building a life together.

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Like many people during COVID, I found myself with something I hadn't ever had much of before - time. I found some watercolour paints and began dabbling, simply because I found that I loved it. What started as a quiet creative outlet quickly grew into something much bigger, and over the next few years I painted hundreds of custom pet portraits for clients all over Australia. Even as life became busy again with work and horses, painting continued to stick around.

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Then life reminded us just how precious time really is.

After losing our first baby late in pregnancy last year, everything shifted. It changed the way we looked at life, at work and the dreams we'd always been saving for 'one day'. We realised there are no guarantees, and that the life you want deserves a place in the present not just someday in the future. 

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Around the same time, I discovered oil paints and completely fell in love. 

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Today, Studio Westby is where all of those pieces of my life come together. Every painting is inspired by the places I've lived, the horses I've ridden, the land I've worked on and the moments that make country life so special. My hope is that each piece brings a little of that feeling into the collector's home - the calm of a pink evening sky, the warmth of a familiar country landscape or a memory of somewhere you've loved.

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As I prepare to welcome our beautiful rainbow baby into the world, this new chapter feels like the perfect time to finally share these paintings beyond my own home. 

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Thank you for being here and I hope you find a piece that feels like home.

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- Billie