Seaside rocks 2 - drizzly beach day

Moody drizzles of wash and water allow hints of a detailed painting underneath, just like watching the rain through a window (or windscreen in a beachside carpark!).

I was struck by the drama of this seaside cliff and the layers of colour and texture where the whitewater gushed over a long, flat rocky ledge at high tide. It was a drizzly day on our coastal holiday and I wanted that wet, grey feel almost like looking through a rainy window or the windscreen of the car, which is what we did! There's a blue-grey wash over the original painting, then drizzled with clean water to catch and lift the top layer of acrylic to reveal the colour beneath.

I had in mind a strong artwork that would sit well in a modernist black/grey stone room styling. In fact, this piece looks fantastic in low light in the evening, when the water and sky highlights almost glow with contrast - just like the ocean is, if you stand on the beach at night: it's quite mesmerising! At first glance it's quite monochromatic, but look longer and those purples and teals shine through.

This piece has many layers of colour in the cliff and the water, therefore - with thin layering in the sky (I use water-soluble oil paints) to let the white of the canvas reflect outwards for a natural glow.

It is a very gestural piece in which my whole body moved with the strokes, particularly in the sky and the water. I actually made the 'gsssssh' sound as I dragged the white paint up over the sandy shoreline!

The original site of inspiration was Norah Head, on the NSW Central Coast north of The Entrance.

The piece is done on quality unstretched, primed Italian linen for superior surface. I work on this surface for many pieces also in keeping with my sustainability policy: Linen is a more environmentally friendly crop requiring less water, and shipping unstretched canvas requires no bubblewrap and less packaging.

It will require framing. There is around 7cm of spare canvas around the edge to accommodate just about any framing choice.

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From my studio in Canberra, Australia I work to create ethereal abstract nature paintings that echo that feeling of ease and wellness that twinkles through you when you stop in a pocket of forest or under a tree, stepping into Earth’s embrace. I would love to show you around my studio in person. Meantime, please enjoy exploring this virtual shop, zoom in, peer close, and reach out with any questions.

In the tangle of the forest understorey, the connectivity of all things is most apparent to me. The sense of oneness and gentle alive-ness leads me to create layers of subtle, organic marks that invite the viewer in, like we lean in to listen when someone speaks softly. Paint is added or removed, responding to the moment; some things from life, some imagined, as though co-creating, until this pocket of wilderness is formed enough to hold us. Final flecks of colour are allowed to skip across the surface like sunlight on leaf, web or tiny wing. I’m exploring the concept of Nature as divinity, accessed by grounding in the wild-grown Earth that is the ancestral home for our species. The result, I hope, is artwork with a sense of the ethereal; that is somehow both divine-uplift and soft-landing – like opening the door to home.

Visit my website for my full range including small works, and to join my Collectors List for early access to new work.

As featured on Space Invaders home renovations by channel 9 (season 6, episode 6), April 2026.