Feels like magic (2020)

This body of work began during the 2020 global pandemic. My family travelled from England to spend some of lockdown in Australia. Based on the South Coast of New South Wales, I felt immersed in the vibrant warmth and colour of the Australian landscape, particularly following a long British winter.

I have always been fascinated by the ideas surrounding Magical Realism and immersed in the glorious Australian landscape these ideas took flight. The period was marked by colourful and dynamic compositions combining observational rendering with imaginative mark making. The ability of light to reveal and abstract the landscape was also a focus. The changing colour of the mountains throughout the day; the illusion of sparkles dancing off my sons hands and refracting across the water; the changing colour of local horses as they clipped in and out of shadows - these vignettes evolved as absorbing studies for larger works.

Although the rest of the world felt dangerous and strange, it also felt far away from our little South Coast bubble. The works I made in this period feel special - we were left to enjoy the magic of nature and family life with little interruption.