The Afternoon

The Afternoon is a celebration of lazy summer afternoons just lounging around. There is so much peace and beauty in stillness and slow living. It allows for self reflection and simplicity. I painted The Afternoon as part of my Reflections series.

The Reflections series is a collection of still life pieces that carry a sense of emotion. The series are a play on the contrast of light and shadow, opaque and translucent as well as strength and fragility. I illuminated the reflections of objects allowing for depth and dimension which enable the viewer on a journey. For this particular piece I wanted a simplistic, modern and minimalist feel. I kept the background minimalist to allow the objects at the forefront to be the focus. I chose to use acrylics as the medium for The Afternoon in order to keep a clean minimalist look. Brush strokes are kept smooth and well blended. The smooth flow of the amber and green glass bottles and the reflections of objects call for the mind to wander.

The Afternoon would work really well in a living room, kitchen space, dining room, cafe or restaurant. The colours are a lovely warm hue and give off a warm glow to uplift a space.

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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.