This painting will always be remembered by me as the one that kept dragging its feet. The top half which is mainly left in it’s initial layer of chaos & marks. Some of which my daughter (who was 4 at the time) made to ‘help mama with her work’

But the rest of it, the lighter colours, the pastels, the spirals and little sprays of gold dots…all took FOREVER to be decided. Or it was argued over and over in my head with the Muse about which direction to go.

It’s why it’s titled Sweet Surrender. This collection, this year has been a constant practice to surrender AND to fight my way forward.

And of course, my favourite parts of this painting are the ‘messy’ bits. It’s chaos, it’s ‘not proper’ but it’s also a sign of life, of memories, of flaws but also fun!

From my LIKE FAMILY November 2018 collection. 

My grandmother finally went home earlier this year - and I saw anew the legacy of Matriarchs as I watched my mother mourn her mother. And I could see the future of my daughters mourning me.

In order to navigate the chaos of emotions amongst the logistics of flying overseas & leaving behind my breastfed baby — I saw anew the anchors my motherhood was from a personal perspective as I left my two girls behind to attend the funeral.

These ideas of chaos & anchors amongst that ‘mess’ is the core theme of all my works.

The mess of colours and marks that I explore with layers of acrylic paint & pen, splattered on the canvas in wild abandon! Plus intuitive movement I like to think of as a dance with the Muse.

Once the chaos has reached a tipping point, the search for anchors begins.

Compositions & the more left-brain side of my Designer past life comes back to dig through the mess. The spiral shape is the visual anchor, serving as both windows through the ‘past’ (underlying layers) as well as compositional and visual anchors.
Just as in life - to find a fulfilled life, one must find the beauty in the mess!

With my experience mourning the Matriarch of my maternal family, I wanted to explore how the motherhood experience reflects these themes alongside concepts of time and legacy, with the duality of beauty and mess. Grief and joy. Chaos and structure

The past, represented by my grandmother, serves as an anchor as we grieve the loss while also joyfully celebrating her legacy.

With my daughters as anchors for the future as they create their stories. And I stand in the present, searching and creating the beauty amongst the chaos.

Simultaneously playing and battling the chaos, while holding & grasping for anchors.

May these paintings serve as inspiration for you to find your anchors & joy in connection with your family -- whether by blood or choices, family are a spiral of focus that helps us see the beauty in the mess!

All paintings are varnished, signed & dated. Created & packaged with love and care in my studio.

Painting details:

• Size: 40"x 40" / 100 x 100cm

• Gallery wrapped cotton canvas. Framed in natural oak. (add approximately 1cm to the size on all sides) 

• Satin Gloss Varnish (which gives the colours an amazing depth + protects the painting, though I would not recommend hanging it in direct sunlight -- that will make the painting sad & fade.)

please note that the image has been calibrated to be as accurate as possible -- due to different monitor settings, the colour you see on your screen may not be an accurate representation of the real thing. rest assured, the colours are rich and beautiful..

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