I have been thinking a lot about how I make art and how my paintings begin..
It turns out it is definitely easier to think about how one began and the one I am choosing is "Let me be Great"
This painting began with a walk a long Beadnell Bay in Northumberland. My friend Kate moved up there a few years ago and it has been a magical discovery for me.
Kate cares for people in lots of ways but one of her big things is beautifully prepared food, so with the highest class of breakfast in our bellies and snacks in our bags we walked along the coast to the beach.
Pretty much every view could have been a painting...
I did a lot of sketching whilst Kate swam in the sea (brrrr; it was January).
When I got home I remembered how peaceful it was on the beach and how the big sky felt limitless..like anything was possible. I started to work from the picture below.
I painted the board in pink first because I was thinking back to the day and the warmth of friendship.
The reflections took some doing and it felt a bit like a puzzle I had to work out...but the more I did the better it got. I decided to call the painting "Let me Great" after the Sampa the Great track. I had been listening to it a lot and it was so aligned with this painting being about potential. On a personal level I had managed to solve technical problems in the painting that I felt were a long way from my rough attempts when I first started out. On a more worldly level; are we drawn to the sea because of how it restores and invigorates us?
The original painting has found its forever home but I have limited edition prints still available in my shop.
Always remember to have friends that let you be great x
