Smaller works, 2020 onwards

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The Jewel paintings began in 2010 as a gesture of love with a small watercolour painted as a gift, and love remains the central focus of my work. These smaller works began in March 2020 when we had to leave our studio building and I set up a studio at home until September. I hadn't previously thought I could make smaller paintings, so despite all the collective anxiety that the pandemic brought, it was exciting to be able to quickly produce lots of smaller works. I revisited my vast archive of photographs of gemstones and was able to make small versions of paintings I had planned but would never otherwise have had the time or capacity to make. This evolved into an integral part of my process, smaller studies create a space to test ideas and experiment with colour which inform the larger paintings.

Through a process of tuning into the moment, I discover how each crystal resonates and come to an understanding of its structure through drawing. My practice becomes a meditation in which memories of people, places and experiences surface and align with the object. These meditations become the subject of each painting, and titles similarly emerge from fragments of texts or lyrics which echo the spirit of each motif.