Expressive

‘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’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

91 x 91 x 4cm

78 x 63 x 6cm (Framed)