The two works above are a result of my new year’s decision to play for a period of time. I have enjoyed working in a more painterly, looser manner as I try to let go of what I was working on last year (Odd Nerdrum inspired space and textures) and allowing myself to breath new ideas into the work. These works are painted from objects on a little table I set up in the studio. In this case a vase, seaweed fragment and then a figurine.

I like painting from life, it allows me to paint what I see and I tend to do this more naturally and fluidly than if I use a photographic image. I don’t find myself second guessing the photo for colour, distortions or how space ‘would’ have looked. I know I won’t always be able to work without a photo but it really helps if I don’t.

The image of the vase plays with space quite loosely, allowing the objects to sit in the composition in an irregular way that is geared towards how the objects are perceived in space. The objects float in and out of focus, or become more or less painterly dependant on how they sits together overall. I would like to bring these qualities into my existing work although when I look back, similar elements have been slipping into the work for a long time as you can see in the the work below. Perhaps then, I am reverting back to what has been an interest all along.