Between Layers: Notes from the Studio

A few reflections on slow looking, translucent colour, and the small decisions that shape a painting while it is still becoming.

The studio has been full of unfinished conversations between colour and surface. Some passages are built slowly, with thin layers that allow earlier marks to remain present; others ask for a more decisive gesture.

Leaving room for the painting

Working in layers is also a way of listening. A shape may become quieter after another colour is placed beside it, while a small change in light can bring an overlooked detail forward. The process is less about reaching a fixed image quickly and more about recognising when the work has found its own balance.

Sometimes the most important decision is to leave a little space untouched.

A new group of paintings is taking shape around these ideas. The next studio notes will follow how the works develop from their first marks into more settled compositions.