Golden Window

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

- Robert Frost

Part of the Reflections Series of works, Golden Window is a slightly nostalgic, yet uplifting piece that celebrates the changing of seasons along with a sense of peace, joy and anticipation. There is a magic hour where the room fills with an amazing saturation of light, deepening the hues around us and it just looks golden. We want to freeze time and remain in that warm glow forever but we know it is only fleeting and "nothing gold can stay" as the poet Robert Frost says. Golden Window is the perfect capture of the golden hour and light play alongside still life objects. The painting itself gives off a beautiful warm glow and is very uplifting in it's tones. The use of antique glass bottles and the amber and blush tones of the glass bottles give off a nostalgic feel. Isn't there something beautifully nostalgic about the golden hour!!!

The Reflections series is a collection of still life pieces that play on the contrast of light and shadow on the opaque and translucent. All works in the series have an expression of different emotive language. I wanted joy, change and anticipation to be at the core of Golden Window.

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My passion lies in painting still life objects, playing with the contrasts of opaque and translucent, light and shadow. I like to focus on accentuating reflections and creating depth to items. Paintings and objects have the ability to be vessels to transport us. A painting can transport you back to a moment in time, a place or even a person. For me, painting is always a journey of sorts. I work through a lot of different emotions as l work through my paintings. There's always anticipation and curiosity, sometimes there's excitement or anxiety. Other times there's a longing or a sense of nostalgia. There's sadness and joy, even together at times. Whatever the feelings are, there always comes a sense of peace finalising the work and it's almost like l've painted whispers, thoughts, hopes and dreams and trapped them between the different layers of paint. I can never detach myself and just create art. I find art to be very much an emotional and complex journey of self expression and discovery woven and tied together. I strive to bring elements of flow, simplicity, joy or nostalgia into my work. I'm finding a lot of peace and beauty in stillness and simplicity at the moment. Living simply and with intent allows us to shape our lives and holds space for us to delve deeper within ourselves and find clarity. I like to work in oils or acrylics depending on the desired end result of the piece.

I started participating in local art exhibitions during my younger years and took part in a few exhibits overseas in recent years. I love travelling and have lived in many different corners of the world from the idyllic Blue Mountains in NSW to Istanbul in Turkey to Auckland in New Zealand to cities along the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts and Melbourne which is home. I spent the most amazing 3 years living in Istanbul and along the Aegean coast of Turkey, participating in painting and ceramic courses using my time to create oil paintings and ceramic pieces. I love to read books to my family, bake cakes, go for long strolls, attend to my plants and am always creating something. My studio is my zen place and l love to spend time there meditating, procrastinating, planning and painting.