Coastal Tones

Coastal Tones began as a response to the experience of looking down at the shoreline from above—where land, sea, and vegetation dissolve into bands of shifting colour. Rather than painting a literal coastline, I wanted to capture the feeling of it: the rhythm of tides, the quiet pull of water against sand, and the subtle transitions between natural elements.

The horizontal movement across the canvas mirrors the way the eye travels along the edge of the shore. I worked with fluid layers of paint, allowing colours to blend and stretch into one another, much like currents meeting and receding. The greens, blues, and violets suggest water and coastal growth, while the warmer pinks and sandy tones reference shoreline light and reflected sky.

Process is central to the piece. By pouring and guiding the paint, I embraced both control and unpredictability—echoing the balance between structure and spontaneity found in nature itself. For me, Coastal Tones is less about geography and more about atmosphere: a meditation on colour, movement, and the quiet energy of the coast.

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Have been painting in Oils for 20 years, starting off in a traditional landscape/still life style, but gradually evolving to wherever inspiration, and the paint and colour take me. I have Illustrated Children's books, working in Acrylic, however the flow, movement and deep depth of colour of Oil's are truly addictive.

My art is wide and varied, and provides me with endless joy, with the odd moment of frustration along the way. The joy of my art is that I don't put any restrictions on it. It flows, it comes from ideas, visions and sometimes just from playing with paint. The whole point of being a creative person, is to be creative, so I can't lock into a particular style and paint that style over and over. The closest I come to that are my fish paintings, but I love my fish paintings, they are so relaxing, therapeutic and never quite the same as I chase the swimming fish around the canvas.
Sometimes I will start a painting with a particular idea, or style in mind, but as soon as I apply paint to the canvas I see something happening that I simply can't resist. So the original idea is taken over by the intriguing possibilities of the unknown creation that lies ahead. Sometimes that creation is nothing special, or lost in the overworked searches for that magic painting that came from nowhere. Sometimes, that magic painting does come from nowhere, and I stand back amazed and wonder how it happened. My years of experience have taught me to trust my artistic instincts, so more often than not, I am pleased with the results.
I have no doubt that my unrestricted "style" probably works against my marketable profile, but I love the way I can paint with freedom and I cannot wait to see what I come up with next.