Catherine’s 30 years in Australia

It was like yesterday, I can still remember the day I left Taiwan behind, after having lived there for 27 years and migrating to Australia. I arrived on 4 October 1984, landing at Brisbane airport. Straight away I fell in love with the sweet fresh air, the amazing blue sky and the spectacular full bloom of the jacaranda trees. I was so excited and right there and then decided to spend the rest of my life in this beautiful country.
 

My first ten years in Australia was like a rollercoaster, spectacular experiences and periods of living hell. After having gone through those ups and downs I learned the lessons of life, and looked at the world in a different way. I learnt to compromise my fantastic with reality, and became determined to be always positive, to always do the right thing, and never give up.
 

Kevin and I first met at the Jupiter Casino Antique Fair in 1995; we were running stalls close to each other. At that time I was struggling to run my business and to look after my son, Alexander, as a single mum. Kevin could see that I had been through a tough time and decided to close his business in Victoria and come to Brisbane to rescue both me and Alexander. He charged in like a knight in shining armour.
 

Kevin’s version of a white horse was his vintage blue convertible Mercedes Benz, with his being dressed like a punk rocker in a hot-rod shirt and bright red suspenders. Seven- year- old Alexander was so impressed with Kevin’s tough, wild-man look that he quickly gave his permission and we welcomed Kevin to our family.

From that moment our business took off. It was East meets West – Catherine Ricketts, the Oriental antiques specialist, and Kevin Parker, the expert on all things European. The combination of our vast knowledge and experience has made us a successful and dynamic team.
 

We frequently travel overseas to source items for our extensive range of antiques and decorative art pieces. Kevin, the treasure hunter, is always out and about looking for exciting stock, and is continually buying whole collections from estates. After years of trading, we have accumulated an amazing amount of collectables amongst our treasured possessions.