Glenda Streeter Ravn

I was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1947, and soon after
my eleventh birthday, I had my first ballet lesson. My
teachers, Dawn and Joy Ransley, were wonderful, and
their sister, dear Shirley (an exceptional pianist),
played for our classes. Although this was all a long
time ago, the memories are still incredibly strong and
precious.

Drawing was my first great interest, but I was carried
away by dance and theatre and eventually it became my
way of life.

I joined The Australian Ballet and toured South East
Asia, followed by an interstate tour of Australia.
Later, I worked with an exciting company based in London,
called International Ballet Caravan, and finally, in
1971, I arrived at the theatre here in Malmö, Sweden.
I have now lived here for some thirty seven years, and
in all this time I never let go of my first passion,
drawing. Soon after arriving in Malmö, I attended courses
at Skånska Målarskolan--once a week, on my day off. I also
began painting in oils at that time.

Many years later, in 1993, when I had retired as dancer,
I took courses in aquarelle and loved the whole concept
of the painting form. I found it challenging, as well as
relatively easy to combine with everyday life; I could
"take up, put down" at will, knit it into family life,
domestic chores, as well as teaching ballet (which I
took up at the time and continued with for eleven years
thereafter).

It took some time before I painted in oils again, but
during the year 2000, after a few tentative attempts, I
managed to get back into it, and can now enjoy both
techniques.

I have exhibited my work in Malmö, Denmark, Tommarp,
and Tomelilla (Skåne)