2019

I enjoy the graphic symbol of a speech bubble - it seems the perfect visual code. I thought I was painting speech bubbles when I began this series of work and then I realised after a couple of paintings that I was making paintings about the energy of breath. 

Speech Bubbles . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 48.5 x 41 cm

Circumscribing Breath . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 45 x 41 cm

Breath . 2019 . Oil on gesso board . 50 x 40 cm

Another Breath . 2019 . Oil on gesso board . 40 x 30 cm

And Another Breath . 2019 . Oil on gesso board . 40 x 30 cm

More Breaths . 2019 . Oil on gesso board . 50 x 40 cm

This Is What I Learnt About Breath . 2019 . Charcoal on gesso board 50 x 40 cm

Doodles
If I am on the phone or sitting with a pen in my hand I doodle -  I draw loops, circles and chains of interlocking forms. In my paintings they developed into fingers and hands and these morphed into strange beings, crowds of them.  Fingers in particular became a good motif in which I could explore painting.

A Superfluity . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 90 x 120 cm

A Misbelief . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 90 x 120 cm

A Promise . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 90 x 120 cm

Body Endings . 2018-2019 . 18 paintings . Acrylic and chalk on linen . 60.5 x 45.5 cm

Gallimaufry . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 30 x 33 cm

Best Of . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 45.5 x 40.5 cm

Feathered Fingers . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 61 x 48 cm

One For The Road . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 61 x 48 cm

Choppy Waters . 2019 . Acrylic on canvas . 30 x 40 x 5 cm

Castles In The Air . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 120 x 146 cm

Visiting the Ashmoleum Museum I came across an ancient remnant of a wooden carving of a winged and crowned figure, I took a photo which I put on my studio wall and after a few months, working away at my my subconscious it found it's way into this painting.

We, Making Across Time . 2019 . Oil on canvas . 96 x 76 cm

There are energy points in the palms of the hands which when activated through specific Chi Kung and Tai Chi forms, or with the skill of intention can make my hands feel enormous. It is an interesting awareness I am grateful for.

Heist I 2019 Oil on linen 68.5 x 51 cm

Heist II . 2019 . Oil on linen . 68.5 x 51 cm

Tucked 3 2019 Oil on raw canvas mounted on canvas 53.5 x 56 cm

Tucked 2 2019 Oil on raw canvas mounted on canvas 53.5 x 56 cm

Tucked 2019 Oil on raw canvas mounted on canvas 56 x 53.5 cm

These works on unstretched and unprimed canvas were informed by Madeline Miller's book Circe. Circe striding across her island in defiance. Powerful and unapologetic. The motif of the fingers became less about sensation and more about a compositional design. Painting them felt like dancing. The canvases all joined together a lined a wall of the studio.

Strut 1 2019 Acrylic and charcoal on raw canvas 108 x 93 cm

Strut 2 2019 Acrylic and charcoal on raw canvas 108 x 93 cm

Strut 3 2019 Acrylic and charcoal on raw canvas 108 x 103 cm

Strut 4 2019 Acrylic and charcoal on raw canvas 113 x 112 cm

Pollarded Trees - how shocking that must be for trees. Trees like the ones I see on my morning walks in the London parks. Brutalised, mutilated limbs. I was thinking about children's stories of magical forests, folk tales and the ancient wisdom of trees and the very alarming circumstances of climate change. 
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Pollarded . 2019 . Acrylic and oil stick on unprimed canvas 117 x 70 cm

After Ken Kiff 2019 Oil on linen 40 x 30 cm

Sometimes I paint faces

Moustacheee 2019 Acrylic and charcal on canvas 100 x 100 cm

Hedge Spirit . 2019 . Acrylic and pen on found wood block . 14 x 14.5 x 4 cm

Company . 2019 . Acrylic on board . 25 x 25 cm