Description

I painted this abstract oil painting on a scrap piece of board that I got from the bins – I had it cut to size and then primed it. I wasn’t precious about it at all. Every day, after finishing my more formal landscape painting, I just used whatever paint was leftover on my palette, and whimsically painted without thinking. Eventually, the composition started to take shape, and I carefully coaxed it into being without too much fuss.

Putting one’s thoughts to the side seems to be one of the secrets for making good art. The aim is to stop thinking altogether, and just let the paint flow out in an absent-minded play. As soon as I start thinking, things seem to get complicated. That’s why doodling while you’re on the phone can work so well – because your mind is occupied, and your creative brain has space to exercise itself freely, without judgment.

The composition has not been abstracted from anything in real life. It is wholly from my imagination – completely made up!