From Highlands Homes to Highlands Horizons: My Journey into Art

For as long as I can remember, the Southern Highlands has been my muse. The rolling hills, the changing seasons, the charm of our old cottages and tree-lined streets – they have shaped my life as an artist. From my life matching people with homes to painting the places they love are, for me, two sides of the same coin.

For more than three decades living here as both an artist and a real estate agent – I have walked though everything from grand estates, weatherboard cottages, farmhouses to chic new builds. Each one has a feeling the moment you step inside. Over the years, I realised that feeling is created not just by the architecture or the furniture, but by the stories layered into a space – and art is one of the quickest ways to tell that story on a wall.

Painting was never a side hobby, it has been a quiet, constant thread in my life, running alongside my real estate work. I’ve sketched in cafes between inspections, taken photos on the side of country lanes in the late-afternoon light falling across paddocks and turned them into colour studies. Eventually, that private creative practice began to ask for a more public home.

Launching Di Dixon Art is my way of bringing these worlds together into one creative space. My years in real estate have given me a deep understanding of how people actually live in their homes: where they pause with a cup of tea, which walls they see first when they walk in, the corners that need warmth and personality. I see my paintings, as not just landscapes, but invitations to feel at home.

This new site is dedicated to that feeling. Here you’ll find original works on canvas and linen that are grounded in real places and real light from the Highlands and beyond, and around the world. Some are quiet, misty mornings; others are bolder, saturated afternoons. All of them are born out of walking, noticing and listening to the landscapes and regions I adore. My hope is that when you find a piece that speaks to you, it doesn’t just decorate a room – it becomes part of your own story of home.