Midnight Garden No. 1 Painting

I use many things as the subject and inspiration for my work, however, it is the process in which a subject is painted that gives it meaning for me. I am a believer in the idea that ‘it’s not what you paint but how you paint it’, so it’s important that the way the subject matter is painted, sits within certain rules. For me this is equal to and part of the inspiration for the painting itself. Anything I try to paint has to abandon all perspective and depth. The background should be brought to the foreground as if to suffocate the objects that it previously sat behind, or to become part of them. I love the abstract idea of heavy grey winter skies enveloping the naked branches of a tree; as if to imagine the tree and sky fighting for space but at the same time holding each other in place. My paintings are built up with layer upon layer of thick textural paint to further contribute to the feeling of density and body of the subject matter, while also to disrupt any illusion of perspective and depth. I would like the viewer to enjoy the chaos and disorder of the canvas’s textural surface almost as much as viewing the painting as a whole. This painting in particular is inspired by my travels in India and Thailand. I wanted to capture the feeling of sitting under the wild jungle greenery at night which would be illuminated by the moonlight. Huge palm leaves silouetted against the dark and deep blue tropical night sky. Often a magical feeling being out in the wild surrounded by the wild nature of the tropics.