A Little Bit of Painting...

I love painting. It’s the perfect way to channel my creativity, lift my mood and raise my spiritual vibration. Playing a few of my favourite tunes and allowing myself to freely produce something with no prescribed parameters or boundaries feels wonderfully liberating and fulfilling.

When we lived in New Zealand, I remember looking out of our floor-to-ceiling bedroom windows every morning and marveling at how huge the leaves were on the native plants in our garden. They were a glorious, bold reflection of nature’s artistry; creating perfect, intricate shapes and patterns in gorgeous hues. I started to feel overwhelmed by the need to capture their appeal, so one day I set to work taking prints of the leaves and layering them onto a canvas. I enjoyed an enormous sense of achievement when it was finished and the image now takes pride of place in our home in Fiji. I'm sure nobody would consider it to be a masterpiece, but the important thing is that it means something to me. Looking at it takes my mind back to how in awe I was of the beautiful flora that surrounded us in New Zealand and floods my thoughts with joyful memories.

It was then that I made the decision to fill my home with artwork that I feel personally connected to. I collect pieces on holiday which remind me of happy places, I’ve created a collage of my mother’s framed paintings which prominently features in my sitting room, I proudly display other work by family and friends and, of course, there are a few of my own creations dotting the walls.

My father is a very talented artist who, in his younger days, had a knack of perfectly capturing moody landscapes with a brilliant use of light. He’s also a very skilled sculptor; I remember as a child feeling amazed by his creations and how accurately he replicated the dimensions and form of his subject matter. He’s particularly adept at woodwork and has produced some very impressive pieces.

My mother took up painting as a relaxing hobby in her late forties and happened upon a genuine talent. She mostly preferred still life, depicting flowers in a delicate, feminine style, often utilising the softening effects of watercolour.

I was inspired to create the painting I’m showing here when we went to a fantastic craft market in Hua Hin, Thailand. Some of the artists there were producing striking portraits of women with wildly decorative hair. I started to think about achieving a similar effect by combining the mediums of acrylic paint and patterned fabric. One day, when I was sizing up the amount of material I had left over from a sewing project, I finally decided to set to work. I cut out circles with serrated scissors and, once I’d finished painting the lady's face, I overlapped them around her head and secured them with spray glue. I was really pleased with the result. I think that it’s a bold, fun piece. I like how, by lifting her bare shoulder, she exudes elegance and femininity, while her sidewards gaze suggests a scene beyond the canvas. I also love how the colours and patterns in the fabric perfectly complement the look and feel of my home.

Again, I don’t think this painting denotes a huge amount of talent by any means, but I loved doing it and consider it a little reflection of my style, passion and need for creativity. It has a story to tell and hopefully, one day, one of my children might contemplate giving it a place in their own home!