From Observation

Every now and then, I go through a period where something in my work begins to shift.

I’ve experienced it enough times now to recognise what’s happening, but that doesn’t necessarily make it comfortable. Momentum disappears, I stop knowing exactly what I want to paint, and things that felt clear only a short time ago suddenly feel uncertain. Usually, though, it means something new is beginning.

Recently I felt a strong pull back towards abstraction. I’ve painted abstractly before and have always loved the freedom of working with colour, shape and composition without needing to describe a subject literally. At the same time, I’m still enjoying painting from observation, plants, branches, objects and the familiar things around me.

For a little while, I thought those two ways of working might be pulling me in different directions. Instead, I’m beginning to realise they belong together.

The first paintings in this new exploration began with Winter Banksia. I kept the original painting beside me while I worked, responding to the cool aqua and blue of the glass, the warmer ochres and browns of the dried foliage, and the overall feeling of winter.

I wasn’t trying to paint the banksia again. I was responding to what had made me notice it in the first place.

That has led to a simple but important realisation for me: observation doesn’t have to mean description.

Sometimes it might mean painting what is in front of me quite closely. At other times, it might mean responding to a colour relationship, the weight of one shape against another, the space around an object or the atmosphere created by light.

I’m calling this new body of work From Observation.

I’ve been building the paintings slowly in oils, adding layers, scraping them back and allowing earlier colours to remain visible. I love the contrast between simple, organised shapes and a surface that still feels loose and alive.

What excites me most is that I don’t feel as though I’m leaving representational painting behind. I’m curious to see how the two ways of working begin to influence each other.

Abstraction is already making me think more about structure, negative space and what can be left out. Observation gives the abstract work something specific and real to respond to.

They are simply different ways of looking.

For now, I’m following that curiosity and seeing where it leads.