In 2019, Schembri travelled to New York where his work was part of an exhibition in the iconic city.

This debut venture onto the international stage stoked a fire in Schembri that continues to burn brightly, despite the challenges presented by the global COVID pandemic.

Schembri's New York experience was to be followed in 2020 by a journey to Italy to further enhance his artistic talents.

But the arrival of the now infamous COVID put paid to those plans, stranding the talented 49-year-old at home.

But the seeds from the New York journey had been deeply sown, with Schembri being hit with the realisation that being an artist was something he wanted to do full-time.

This led to him stepping away from his work at the family's kennel business and using the early parts of 2021 to settle into making his way as a professional artist.

"It is pretty exciting to be going in this direction, doing art full-time," Schembri said.

"It has been a bit harder with COVID because so many exhibitions have been cancelled. But the positive is I can still continue to paint which means I am still producing my art."

Schembri has been expanding his range, focusing on plein air art, which is painting outdoors.

This included setting up in the main street of Port Fairy during that town's winter weekends program.

Port Fairy is also set to play a role in the other part of Schembri's professional career, teaching art.

Schembri will be hosting a Soft Pastel Workshop at Port Fairy Community House, beginning on Monday.

This workshop will include three sessions for participants, with his deep knowledge of the finer points of painting with pastels to be handed on.

Schembri is also busy in Warrnambool, as the F Project feature artist for October.

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