Someone Looking Over Me

Jayne Hammersley Norrie has led a charmed, eventful, determined and rebellious life from the beginning. Adopted at 6 weeks old, she always felt that she didn’t quite fit in with her adoptive family, though she was loved and wanted for nothing. She enjoyed a privileged upbringing at Melbourne and Sydney private schools, and loved holidays at the Norman Myer Victorian Mt.Eliza family residence.

From early marriage and a pre-school teaching career came a growing realisation that she was destined to become an artist. She won a coveted place at National Art School, which embraced the emerging artist, and success with canvas came early. She cut herself off from home and family to concentrate on her art, and in so doing opened up a whole new world.

Later, after the passing of her adoptive parents, Jayne decided to trace her birth parents, and the result of that search shook her world. Tumultuous events led to psychiatric incarceration, and her sister took court action against her in a dispute over family funds. But despite some difficult and trying times, she refuses to live an ordinary life; she is a very determined and free spirit, and this is her story.