Jo S. Stacey is originally from New Zealand. Her father was a shepherd and sheep shearer with her mother conducting seasonal work in between assisting him. This resulted in a large amount of moving – seventy-nine homes by age sixteen. Eventually the hard-working family came to Australia for greater opportunity and inspiration. It was on a visit back home to New Zealand in her early 20s that Jo happened upon a John Constable exhibition, and while standing before his piece ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds’ (1825) she discovered she was weeping and her body shaking so much she couldn’t feel the ground beneath her feet. She knew then that she wanted to be a painter.
After some challenging life changes and a break from the brush she rescued an Off The Track Thoroughbred who relit her creative flame. Every brush stroke of every piece is dedicated to that horse – Phoenix.