I can’t wait to begin painting these new two metre works for my upcoming solo show at Arundel Contemporary this August. The scale feels both exciting and slightly daunting in the best possible way — a chance to push further into atmosphere, movement and light on a much larger surface. After the long drive to Portland to collect the handmade birch ply panels from Handy Hames, it all suddenly started to feel very real.
On the journey back, I stopped at the famous Chesil Beach with Louis, where we sat eating ice cream overlooking the sea before I painted a small plein air study.
The vast coastline, shifting haze and changing light felt like the perfect reminder of why I paint in the first place — trying to hold onto fleeting moments, moods and impressions through loose, painterly marks.
These small experiences always seem to find their way back into the larger works somehow. I’m so looking forward to sharing this new body of paintings with you all, and I do hope many of you will come and see the show when it opens.
