Revisiting my Relationships Series

Relationships Series – Starting Again

How well can we truly know another person? Even in our most intimate moments, an invisible, palpable distance remains. This question has always been at the very heart of my artistic practice, and it found its deepest expression in my “Relationships Series.”
For those who have followed my work, you’ll know this series began as simple figure studies back in 2010. It quickly evolved into an ongoing meditation on our relationships – about our sense of isolation and vulnerability. It’s been several years since I last added to this body of work, but I’ve found myself persistently called back to it.

Small Lives

This series is more than just a collection of paintings; it’s the central pillar of my artistic inquiry. I’ve always been fascinated by the intricate, triangular relationship between the artist, the model and the viewer. My work seeks to explore that invisible, yet profound, truth that even in our most cherished connections, we remain distinctly separate.
After a long break, I feel a need to explore this theme again, to see how my own understanding of it has shifted with time. I have been distracted by painting about political upheaval and social injustice. But just as my frustration with the state of the world grows, I have come to realise that there is no bigger subject than our own small lives.

Missing the Spark: The Energy of the Studio

For several years, my artistic focus shifted, and I stepped away from working regularly with models. It took me some time to realize just how much I missed that collaborative relationship—and how much my core work thrives on it.
There is an undeniable energy that a model brings to the room. The studio becomes a silent stage, charged with a quiet intensity. This collaborative energy is a catalyst for inspiration. The subtle shifts in posture, the shared silence, the vulnerability of the experience—it all feeds directly into the work, breathing life into the concepts I’m trying to capture. It’s this dynamic, in-person experience that I’m so eager to return to.

An Invitation to Collaborate

To resume this series, I am now seeking new collaborators. I am looking for people—individuals and couples—who are interested in posing for this work.
In my practice, the model is never just a passive subject. You become a central, active part of that artist-model-viewer triangle. Your presence is the catalyst for the entire conversation. The process of posing for this series is quiet, contemplative, and collaborative. It’s an opportunity to share a space and become a co-explorer in this meditation on connection and separation—to help make visible that “profound truth that even in our most cherished connections, we remain distinctly separate.”

If this theme resonates with you and you are interested in being part of this new body of work, I invite you to get in touch.

Please [Click Here to Contact Me] with a little about yourself and why you’re drawn to this project.

11/08/202326/01/2024

How to Commission a Nude Portrait

Have you ever thought about commissioning a nude portrait painting?

I am often asked if I paint nude portraits. Yes, I do. It’s really not much different from a regular portrait.
I can work from photos you provide if you prefer. Not everyone is comfortable posing nude, but I do everything I can to make models feel comfortable in my studio. If you want to provide your own photos, I can give advice about lighting and poses.
The best results would be from an in-person sitting. I do some drawings first, trying out different poses and looking for the most complementary light. Then we can choose one pose and I will take some photos of you for reference. I will use the photos and the drawings to make a painting.

I have a studio where we can do the sitting, or I can travel to you. Sometimes that’s better, because you will probably feel more comfortable posing at home.

lifemodel in front of drawings — life model posing in studio

Sometimes the best poses are not planned, but can happen by accident. The body might look a certain way in a particular light; a quick look might show more of you than a pose you prepared. If we have a three hour session, we have a better chance of finding that one perfect position that expresses what you want.

nude female model sitting on bed — An example of an unplanned pose that worked well – the model was just taking a break between poses

Have a look at my page How to Commission a Nude Portrait which will answer the most frequent questions. If you want more information or would like to discuss a commission then please contact me via the email address on my contact page.

01/06/202314/10/2025

Man and Woman

The Painting I Couldn’t Let Go: Revisiting “Man and Woman” a Decade Later

Some paintings are finished the moment the last brushstroke is applied. Others take a little longer. For my painting, “Man and Woman,” it took over a decade of quiet dissatisfaction before I could finally call it complete.

This piece was always deeply personal. It was the last in a series I created to honour my late partner after she passed away from a long illness. I had planned the paintings while she was still with me—taking reference photos, making sketches—but her poor health meant the canvases remained blank. After she was gone, a surge of activity propelled me into the studio to bring them to life, to record our relationship in paint.

Yet, while the other paintings in the series felt resolved, “Man and Woman” never did. For ten years, it troubled me. While it was technically faithful to the photographs I had worked from, it had failed to capture a true likeness of her. Her spirit wasn’t there.

Finally, I decided I had to rework it. What started as a plan for a small amendment quickly became a complete repainting of the entire surface.

The challenge, of course, is that an artist doesn’t stand still. My technique has evolved significantly since 2009. My palette is brighter, I use different mediums, and my approach to glazes is more restrained. In many ways, I was a different painter confronting an old ghost.

Original painting on left, with umbers and ochre dominating the palette

Interestingly, the biggest change came from something I’d lost: the original reference photos. I had to paint my late partner’s face almost entirely from memory. This would have terrified me a decade ago, but my work has grown less beholden to photographic accuracy. I’ve learned to trust my memory and my hand. Paradoxically, by letting go of the exact reference, I believe I found a much truer likeness.

Looking at the two versions side-by-side, the changes might seem subtle to some. But for me, they are monumental. The revision is finally the painting I set out to create in 2009. It was a long road to get here, but it was worth every moment to finally do her memory justice. The nagging doubts are gone, and I feel happy to share it with the world.

Edit: “Man and Woman” has since been shortlisted for the LGC Art Prize 2023
A recent post about the competition can be found here: LGC Art Prize

26/10/202005/10/2023

ING Discerning Eye

I’m very pleased to learn that my painting “I did not ask” has been accepted into this year’s ING Discerning Eye exhibition.

I did not ask

I did not ask my model about the scars on her arms. Despite working with her regularly and being on familiar terms, I never once broached the subject of those scars, and in my paintings of her I never showed them.
A couple of years after this sitting I read the book “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara – a difficult and troubling read, but extremely moving. As I read about the main character’s self-harming and how his friends were all quietly aware of it, but never spoke of it, I thought again about my model bearing her scars in silence. That is what compelled me to find the sketches and photos from that sitting, and to produce this.

I think this painting is just as much about my own reaction to those marks on her forearms, and my awkward silence.

The ING Discerning Eye annual exhibition is a show of small works independently selected by six prominent figures from different areas of the art world: two artists, two collectors and two critics.
The selectors choose both publicly submitted works and works by personally invited artists. Each selector’s section is hung separately to give each its own distinctive identity. The impression emerges of six small exhibitions within the whole.

The exhibition website is here.

02/08/201914/02/2024

Commission a Nude Portrait

Me posing in front of two commissions and a self portrait. Leegate Open Studios 2018.

Following on from my recent post about commissioning a portrait, I thought I’d add a quick post about less conventional portraits. Over the years, I would say that the majority of enquiries I receive about commissioning a painting are for commissioning a nude portrait.

The two nude paintings in the photo above make an interesting case study. Both clients already had a good idea of how they wanted to be portrayed. Subject 1 (female sitter on left), was able to pose in their own home, and had few restrictions on their time. The first sitting was spent making sketches of various poses. In the second sitting I produced a more detailed pencil drawing, from which I was able to start the painting. There followed a few painting sessions, each lasting about three hours. In between I was able to work from a reference photo to bring the painting forward.

commissioned portrait of woman after breast mastectomy — woman sat on bed

Subject 2 (male model in centre, behind me) chose to pose in the studio. Because there was already agreement on what the pose would be, we were able to compress the whole preparatory process into one sitting. We started with preliminary drawings, constantly adjusting the lights, and then spent the rest of the sitting taking photos. At that stage I was happy that I had all the material I needed, and was able to complete the painting without further sittings.

I hope that sheds some light onto the process involved in commissioning an artwork. Exactly the same applies to a conventional portrait painting. I should add that if it’s not possible to arrange an in person sitting, I am able to work from photos supplied by the customer. In that situation I can give direction on the pose, background and lighting. If I am asked to work from old photos, I like to see a number of photos of the subject, to give me a better idea of what they look like, which gives me the option of swapping elements from different photos.

For more information look at Commission a Nude Portrait

If you have any questions about a possible commission, please get in touch via the email on the Contact page.