Blue Interior with Guardian Diptych

This painting began as a simple still life in the studio — a ginger jar, a cutting from the garden, and a small blue guardian/foo dog figure I’ve had for years. I’m drawn to these kinds of objects, things that sit quietly in the background of daily life and slowly gather meaning over time.
As I worked, the painting shifted away from observation and became more intuitive. The space started to loosen and break apart, with forms drifting across the two panels rather than settling into place. The interior became less about a room, and more about a feeling — something familiar, but slightly off.
The diptych format allowed the image to move and breathe, so the painting doesn’t fully resolve. It sits somewhere between still life and abstraction, where memory, space and objects all overlap.

Overall size is 180 x 120cm consisting of 2 x panels at 90x120cm each panel. Please do not hesitate to message me if you have any questions or would like to see more images of this work.

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I’ve been making art for most of my life, though the path here hasn’t been completely straightforward. What was meant to be a one-year trip from the UK to Sydney in 1994 somehow turned into a permanent move, and Australia has felt like home ever since.
A lot of my work begins outdoors; walking, noticing plants growing through fences, strange colour combinations in nature, or bringing home flowers and cuttings to paint in the studio. Painting has always been a way for me to slow down and pay attention. It’s where I feel most myself.
Before returning to painting full-time in 2015, I worked across surface pattern design, printmaking and graphic design, and those influences still shape the way I paint today; through colour, rhythm, line and composition. I’m also deeply inspired by the simplicity and spontaneity of Chinese and Japanese ink painting, calligraphy and woodblock prints, though my work has gradually evolved into something much looser and more contemporary over time.
Since returning to full-time practice, my work has been exhibited in solo and group shows across Australia and selected as a finalist in prizes including the Calleen Art Award, Lethbridge Prize, Bluethumb Art Prize and the National Contemporary Watercolour Prize. My paintings and prints have also been licensed onto homewares and collected internationally.
I still feel genuinely grateful that I get to spend my days painting, and I hope that sense of joy, calm and curiosity finds its way into the work itself.