Form & Composure

‘Canary Yellow’ felt so refreshing to paint. My idea was to simplify the shapes and keep details to a bare minimum. I wanted the focus to be on the face and hands and allow the bold shapes and raw colour to speak for themselves. As a final touch I added a single sweep of aqua to highlight her shoulder.

51 x 51 x 2cm

I had such fun bringing Prismatica to life, not really knowing where she would end up. I pushed and pulled, built her clothing up, only to strip it back down and blend it with the background. I got to a stage where I was happy with her, but felt she just needed something that would make her sing. So I pulled out a palette knife and tin of intense pink paint, half closed my eyes and hoped for the best as i dragged it over her face and body.

122 x 91.5 4cm

117 x 117 x 4cm

I’ve been exploring how far I can simplify shapes while still holding form. Similar to the way I approached ‘Canary Yellow’, I added detail into a key area and left the rest to pure colour and composition. Initially the block of red that is her body didn’t read well, it just pulled my eye off the bottom of the canvas, so I picked up a huge brush and took a risk. Those final marks ended up being my favourite part of the painting.

153 x 61 x 4cm

As an artist obsessed with the female form, my instinct has always been to render skin fluidly, leaning into a realistic approach. Lately I’ve been resisting the comfort of what I know best. I’m forcing myself to find new ways to translate the body: using bold, sweeping marks to suggest form and movement, grabbing colours my mind tells me to avoid, and using them anyway. I want my paintings to surprise me.

91 x 61 x 4cm

121 x 90 x 4cm

75 x 60 x 2cm

This is an old fav. She is one of the few paintings that became part of the studio and stayed there for many years. She measures 182cm x 91cm and because of her size, photos don’t fully capture her presence. This was the first time I felt brave enough to leave such raw marks and ‘unfinished’ areas. Even though I’ve always admired this in other artists’ work, doing it myself felt like a rebellion against my own instincts.

182.5 x 91 x 3.5cm

102 x 76 x 4cm

20 x 20 x 1.5cm

28.5 x 23.5 x 2cm

I was drawn to her style immediately, the hair, overalls and pose. I referred back to my ‘Canary Yellow’ palette and jumped straight in feeling a wave of inspiration. Initially the hands were painted with some detail, but I wanted to suggest movement, so I wiped them out and made a few quick marks to imply motion.

61 x 31 x 3.5cm