About my work

My paintings are inspired by nature, atmosphere, and meditation. When I first started painting I didn’t think of it in those terms. I was just trying to make what I saw in my head exist on the canvas.

Over time, I realised that the process itself, the slowing down, the looking, the adjusting had become a kind of meditation.

Each piece develops over months, constantly changing. I often think I’ve reached a point where it feels right, only to step back and realise it isn’t at all.  At the same time, I have a tendency to overwork them and I know I’ve lost good paintings by not leaving them alone soon enough. There’s a balance between persistence and restraint that I’m still learning.

I’m hard on my materials and like using acrylic paint because it’s so forgiving and allows me to build, scrape back, and rework surfaces without losing the history underneath. I like an element of surprise in the process too. If a weird mix of colour ends up on the canvas by accident, I tend to follow it rather than correct it. Those unexpected moments sometimes lead to something better than what I had planned. I sometimes use iridescent paints which can also be a bit of a surprise. Not only does it make my work extremely difficult to photograph, but when the light changes or you move around the room, the painting changes too.

I often expose earlier lines and layers, letting fragments show through before building over them again. It’s been a long lesson in patience, learning when to push forward and when to stop, and allowing the painting to slow find it’s own balance.