Shifting

“Shifting” forms part of my rather unusual series of Underwater paintings – en pleine mer – though its shifting light (in the end the subject of this painting) doesn’t shout its origin.
My actual starting point for this work was a barrel sponge seen deep underwater. I loved the flowing lines & curving shapes created by nature, and so I dribbled and blobbed fluid paint on to the canvas in similarly flowing lines, creating shapes reminiscent of that huge sponge but with a rhythm of their own. I then responded to this initial layer, gradually building up thin layers of acrylic paint, each brushstroke responding to the previous, each application of paint creating strata and splinters of vivid colours.
Gradually the inspirational barrel sponge disappeared as the abstract shapes united into one harmonised and dynamic composition, but, for me, it left its personality behind in those glowing colours and shapes.