About Us
The People at Sharpe & Fowler
Tim Fowler
Tim Fowler joined the practice, then known as Stewart & Sharpe in 1979. At the time it was situated in Charles St behind Stewarts the jewellers, but moved in 1984 to its present location in York St. Tim and his family are originally from Victoria, and he graduated in 1976 from the University of Melbourne. A two-year stint in the Riverland district of South Australia preceeded the move to Tasmania.
Tim enjoys his work and is constantly seeking new challenges. He is committed to improving optometry standards through continuing education and is a registered prescriber of ocular therapeutics. His interests outside work include bushwalking, gardening, fishing and sailing.
Patricia Paprocki
Patricia Paprocki brings to Sharpe & Fowler clients her extensive experience in optometry - including industrial optometry, contact lenses, sports vision training and is an acredited provider of laser vision assessment. This is combined with a particular expertise in dealing with the vision problems of children with learning disabilities as well as general therapeutic optometry.
Patricia has been actively involved in research programs and has frequently given seminars to various community groups. She served for nine years with the Optometric Association as Councillor, Secretary and Vice President. She was also a member of the Board of Registration.
Patricia now resides in Brisbane but we are lucky to have her return 3 times a year for 2 weeks at a time.
Jennifer Blackwell
Jennifer Blackwell started with Sharpe and Fowler in 1987, and she has been Practice Manager for the last 16 years. She has a Diploma in Optical Dispensing from the Dispensing Opticians Guild of Australia, awarded in 1993. As well as running the practice she is central to the sourcing of the fine eyewear we are famous for.
Outside of the practice, her priorities lie with family - her husband Peter, sons Cameron and Jared, and of course Oscar and Liy, her Siamese cats. She counts art, literature, gardening and travel among her interests.
Eye Health Facts
Aura, after-images and things like that.
Most of the time our vision works automatically, adjusting to changing light levels, colours and shapes and movement, without us noticing the complex task it is performing. But in certain situations so often we get a glimpse at the workings of our visual system:
- Bleaching takes place when you look at something bright - it takes a little while for the 'afterimage' to fade and vision return to normal.
- Look at an object of a bright colour for a while, and then at a white page, and you'll see an 'afterimage' in its complementary colour.
- Stare at an object of a bright colour against a blank background for a while, and because of the small movements the eye makes, this complementary colour afterimage will appear as an 'aura' at the edges of the object.