As an artist, I am very emotionally connected to what I paint.

My career started probably when I was in high school, I could say. I love painting, and I just love mixing colours and painting about stories that my grandmother told me since I was a little girl.

Like many artists, my work tells a story. It’s about my connection to family, to the land, where I was born, my struggles and triumphs. For those who appreciate my work and want to reuse it, I do expect to be fairly paid.

Think about anything you have created or worked on yourself – be it a birthday cake for someone special, a piece of woodwork, painting the wall of a nursery, even cleaning and polishing the things you value – there’s a connection.

It is so much easier to rip off someone’s work these days – and most people, I think, want to do the right thing and get permission to use someone’s work – or buy a licence – but there is a need for much greater regulation, here in Australia and overseas.

As your art travels, it touches and influences more people. Artwork is about that connection with your audience, but [copyright is about] having those layers of protection at the centre and throughout each part of that interaction.