Christine V. Courtney's first career was as a professional dancer, moving from Adelaide to Britain to dance with the Ballet Rambert and directing her own small ballet company before returning to Australia to work as a teacher and producer. Her time in dance took her around Europe, sparking a lifelong passion for the arts, and the history and architecture of the great European cities. She first visited Venice while leading fine arts tours to Europe in the 1980s. The city appeared to her like a fairytale stage set. Christine always thought poetry was something that other people did; however, she has found that putting her thoughts on paper has filled the creative gap left by dance and allowed her to explore her love affair with Venice. Christine lives in Port Adelaide, where she runs Sea-Witch Images, a gallery and bookshop holding thousands of historic photographs.