Online exhibition: Vessels of Colour

10 Dec

A new collection of 18 small acrylic paintings on paper

Now available to purchase

Vases, vessels, cups and mugs have always fascinated me. Small, intimate, domestic objects of beauty. These new works on paper are a joyful exploration of those forms, containers of meaning, connection and memory.

These paintings began life as drawings of familiar objects in my sketchbook, things from my home, cups, jugs, small vases. Those sketches were then reimagined in layers of expressive paint, shifting from the everyday into something more abstract and more symbolic.

Playful, botanical, bursting with energy, like magical genies escaping from painted lamps.

These paintings have multiple layers of rich, textured colour. You can often see traces of earlier marks still visible beneath the surface, giving the work a sense of depth, a history, a feeling of something antiquated and treasured.

My hope is that they feel both bold and joyful, but also intimate and personal, the way a well-worn teacup might feel: treasured and full of story.

I was recently flipping through an old notebook, one from more than twenty years ago and found a line I had written to myself:

“I love the organic and the ornamental.”

It made me smile. These new paintings feel like a continuation of that thought. A little ornamental. A little organic. Something held. Something growing.

These paintings were created layer by layer. Each one is unique. I loved painting them and I hope that the joy of their creation is evident in each painting.