Let's start from the beginning...

Take your mind back to when the UK's lockdown was in full-swing; one walk a day, shops, bars, restaurants, museums, art galleries, gyms are all closed and the only thing you can do to keep sane is dream. Dream about being on holiday, dream about the sun, the sea, the sand between your toes, exotic sunsets, unfamiliar architecture and spontaneous adventures. Lockdown for me was the perfect time to allow my mind to wander away from the isolated, stagnant and surreal time we were all going through.

It was from my day-dreams that I developed the rich colour-palette that underpins the Dreamer collection. I drew inspiration from cloudy pastel sunsets and heat bouncing between Cuban buildings and classic cars to create a vibrant and energetic collection. Warm colours of burnt orange, neon pink and mustard yellow are contrasted with cool blues, mints and teals. I always make a concept board (otherwise known as a mood-board) before I start a new collection, it allows me to focus on the details and colours that are really speaking to me at that moment in time.

Experimenting with new techniques, tools and media is so important to my practice as it allows me to continue evolving and developing my work. I wanted to get new ideas and mark-making techniques down quickly so I worked on paper in various formats to inform my future Dreamer paintings. I loved this part of the process, it was very liberating and exciting to be able to get so many ideas and compositions down so quickly and provided the foundation for my new collection of works.

Working on canvas is a completely different experience to working on paper, transitioning between the two successfully can be challenging. I love to drench a blank canvas in vibrant colour to quell any of the infamous 'fear' that artists can feel when confronted with a large blank canvases. (...for more on the fear of the blank canvas read my previous blog post 'Facing the Fear') Physical movement is also a vital part of my process; I am constantly rotating the canvas and using movement to create particular effects and feelings in my paintings. It is so important to me that the viewer can almost see the movement and energy behind every single mark that I make.

Layers, layers, layers... I love layers! Translucent layers, opaque layers, fluid layers, controlled layers; they all come together to create a sense of depth and drama to the Dreamer collection. Experimenting with opacity was something I focussed heavily on during the process, building up layers whilst also being able to see the history of the marks I made underneath.

To view the new Dreamer collection, click on any image above! I would love to hear your favourite things about the new collection, feel free to leave a comment below!