Original artwork description:

This is the ninth in a series of paintings called: "Rainbow Polyps" inspired by our beautiful corals, so fragile but so full of resilience to survive. Beautiful pastels and neon paints combine, controlled experiments with new techniques laying down bold colours and shapes side by side, using intuition and no planning, a style of painting I really enjoy.

Imbued with an organic, ethereal quality, my work is characterised by a chaotic rainbow palette; clashing and complimentary colours competing together side by side, layered with a mix of calmer muted washes and splashes of bright neon. My work is light and fresh with a joyful energy, and the compositions are a delicate balance of intricate swirling forms and concentrated layers of colour. Finally, embellishments and finishing touches are made which lets some ideas breathe, others left intentionally raw, adding further energy to each piece.

I never plan my paintings; I love exploring new ideas given to me by the last piece of colour or an interesting shape I’ve just put down, I just start somewhere on the canvas and eventually I just instinctively know when it’s finished. I prefer to start and finish a painting in one session as I feel that the energy on that day is unique.

They generally evolve through a subtractive process, beginning with lots of colour and bold vigorous brushstrokes and then working backwards so to speak. I add both thick and transparent layers allowing for the previous washes or dashes of colour to glow through. Flitting between the negative space and the positive, while clutching many brushes loaded with rainbow hues carefully assembled with a palette knife.

Materials used:

Acrylic, Mixed Media, Metallic Paint.

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