About the Artist – Christina Zey/Cristina Zei Christina started her formal training as an Art Student in Melbourne, Victoria, majoring in painting, graphic art and fashion design. After working in the fashion industry for a short period, she was appointed to the position of Secondary Arts & Crafts Teacher in Victoria in 1966. She continued teaching Art & Craft in Melbourne and later in Perth, Western Australia where she was appointed the Art Coordinator in a Teachers’ College. Over the years she taught and demonstrated her methods to students in the widest capacity, both in Australia and at an international level, but in recent years her own art work has taken precedence. Christina has successfully exhibited her paintings and drawings in a number of exhibitions throughout Australia and in December of 2006, she was invited to participate at an international level in the 11^th Guangzhou International Art Fair in southern China. Here, several of her paintings were successfully sold and she was again invited to the 12^th Guangzhou International Art Fair in December 2007. Also, she held solo exhibitions of 20 paintings in Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, the Adriatic village of Koper and the north eastern city of Maribor, Slovenia during June to December 2007, by invitation. In her travels Christina searches for conditions that imprint the character of the area into her memory, and the serenity that pervades her paintings reflects her inner sense of excitement to interpret these visions on canvas. She communicates the magic and tranquillity of the rich Australian landscape, its flora and fauna, through a depth and richness of colour, texture and shapes that behold the secrets of the magic of the land that makes Australia so unique. She envelopes herself in the richness and vibrancy of the people, music and colours that make Cuba, Mexico and other Latin countries that she has been privileged to visit, what they are today. Her most recent expedition was to the beautiful country of Morocco, North Africa, where the vastness and stillness of the undulating sand dunes overwhelmed her own tranquillity. Today Christina is an acclaimed independent artist at the international level. Cristina Zei Christina Zey E-mail cristina.zei@optusnet.com.au