Tricia Coop: Mountain Influence

Settling in the beautiful Blue Mountains west of Sydney has caused an inevitable influence on the work of this prolific and talented oil painter.

- Tricia Coop

Newcastle in New South Wales was my birthplace. My English mother married a country Australian. I spent my early years in the country and attended boarding school (where art was my favourite subject).

After settling in Sydney, I undertook college training in Mechanical Drawing at Ultimo. I progressed to become a Lithographic Retoucher and worked in the printing trade in Sydney for a number of years.

Influenced by my mother and the desire to travel, I went to work in London for some time. There I met my husband John, and our two sons were born in England.

John had always wanted to travel to Australia, where he had some distant relatives. Inevitably we returned to Sydney and made a home in the ‘Hills District’ at Castle Hill; later moving to Wisemans Ferry, and finally settling in the Blue Mountains. All of these areas – particularly the mountains – have brought some influences to my paintings.