Congratulations on winning Zealous Stories: Painting! Your work ‘Deluge’ depicts a dramatic winter storm – how did you capture this moment and translate it into painting?
‘Deluge’ was quite a spontaneous painting to create as it was an exercise in focusing on the energy of a storm rather than a representation. Quite often when painting I allow an expression of my inner feelings to be conveyed through the process. I remember at the time that ‘Deluge’ was painted, I was experiencing quite a turbulent period in my life, which now that I look at it, seems to have manifested itself in the finished piece.
You don’t typically inform the viewer the location behind the inspiration of a painting – why is this?
I think that this is because I would much prefer the viewer to make their own connection to a painting and give them an opportunity to pause and reflect on the memories and emotions that it may evoke in them. I feel that by giving a location to my paintings the viewer is less likely to have an emotional response and more likely to focus on the visual representation.