An illustrator, painter and street artist, Lizzio’s work and murals can be found all over the world, from Melbourne, to Vancouver, to London.

To look at her work is to dream.

Women painted in organic, flowing lines are lovingly decorated with colours, flowers and atmospheric shades.

She has been described as a “romantic visionary”, depicting her emotions through what is natural: figures, animal and plants.

In one piece, a royal tiger emerges triumphant on a bed of roses.

In another, an image of a winged clock reflects the passing of time and the healing which accompanies it.

Lizzio said that one of the biggest impacts on her work was a severe accident which she was unfortunately subject to.

She was hit by a bus in Melbourne which had run a red light.

Hospitalised and in recovery for more than five weeks, Lizzio said that this period encouraged her to reflect on the importance of the sombre, or tragic artwork in the home.

With the aid of a book, Lizzio began to realise that art which depicted periods of suffering, change or sadness, could actually connect more deeply with the viewer, more than light-hearted imagery could.

“All of us go through down periods,” Lizzio said.

“I think we can feel better looking at artworks which reflect something deep within us...”

Lizzio said that the women which she paints might represent versions of herself.

One of her latest works, painted on a wall inside The Oxford Hotel in Adelaide, shows a woman in shades of red and blue, gazing pensively outward.

Strikingly, the woman’s body is made up of trailing, organic plant material, almost like vines or tendons.

Given that Lizzio recently became a mother – she has a four-month-old girl – the image is telling of her wonder and increased exploration of the female body.

“I think it’s so amazing what the female body can do,” Lizzio said, expressing amazement at seeing her own milk ducts, in a scan, expanded and blooming like flowers.

She was also fascinated by the symbiosis she experienced between mother and child, when her body changed to provide for her daughter.

Although seemingly painting from a dream, Lizzio had quite a practical upbringing, and was born and raised on a sugar-cane farm in far North Queensland.

Her grandfather is from Sicily, and her grandmother is half-Italian, half-Chinese.

Lizzio said that although she drew and created all her life, art was never really considered a career option while growing up in the rural community.

She originally applied to be a mechanic’s apprentice: “I loved jobs where you got your hands dirty,” Lizzio declared.

But she was refused the position, and went on to enrol in an arts-teaching degree in Toowoomba.

During this period, Lizzio’s imaginative drawings began to flourish.

As she shared them with more people from the arts community, her reputation began to grow.

She had an early solo show at Private Space, Gold Coast, and since then she’s been on the up.

Her work has been featured in many magazines including Juxtapox, The Weekend and Virgin Airlines’ Voyeur Magazine.

Most recently, she participated in the Illawarra Wonderwalls Street Festival in Port Kembla, where, despite issues such as a lack of lifts (the walls are big) she managed to complete an enormous, reclining and apparently peaceful woman, across only two days of work.

Lizzio is a woman of strength and creative ambition.

Her next big show is planned for October, at 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace, on the Gold Coast.