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Autumn’s Palette

Autumn, a time of retreat, of change, of decay yet such a beautiful season. The wind, rain and storms approach with a ferocity that only nature can conjure and the days begin to darken, as night stealthily creeps closer; there is still so much colour and beauty.

Meandering through the local woodland, watching the squirrels hustle and bustle as they store for the coming winter the landscape has exploded into nature’s palette. Reds, yellows, browns and golden wonder stand stark against the crisp blue background of the sky.

Nature inspires me. It presents me with a spectacle of awe, a framework of colour, shade and light that I look to bring to my own artwork. In these troubled times as the planet’s life force itself stands on a knife edge I try to do the best I can. It is never enough but I try. I want my children to have a world of splendor and beauty, a world full of hope, to be the guardians of our world which we have only borrowed to keep safe for future generations.

So I look to create beauty, calm, fantasy and wonder in my artwork. To try to say these images do not only have to be in our imaginations, they can become real. We are all individually like a stone dropped into water. The ripple we cause will have an affect on everything. The Butterfly effect. So we can chose to bring darkness and chaos or we can chose light and beauty.

The choice is that simple!

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The Winds of Change

Perhaps it’s that time of year, as the leaves turn to golden hews, the mornings are crisper and the days shorter. Change is in the air. But then change is always in the air. The question is only; should we fight against the inevitable flow of life or do we accept and embrace what will be. To allow ourselves to be swept along on the winds of change.

I have come across this ‘unknown’, this fear, this opportunity both through the commissions that are coming my way and through my changed outlook, in recovery, towards life and thus my art. My paintings had reflected so much darkness, within addiction, as indeed the coming winter will reflect it. But the summer months, along with recovery, have brought me a new sense of lightness, colour and vibrancy which has set me free from the shackles of darkness to the exploration of light.

This change has by no means been easy. My work always relied on that sense of darkness, of my inner sadness and fears. It was a part of me and therefore became a part of my work. Now, the veil has been lifted. I can see the world and the beauty within it as I have never experienced before. Change can bring anxiety, fear of what is to come but it can also bring growth and with it a constant new beginning.