KEEP TALKING, March 2026

A painting of a video call with my son. My daughter prompted it – "paint Sam, Mum" – seeing the everyday opportunity on my behalf, exactly what I am looking for when I paint.

I loved the contemporary edge of a phone portrait, and the way the shadows of the flowers folded around the phone. They are there, but you only see their stalks. KEEP TALKING is a dialogue, the conversation itself the subject.

The odd colours that emerged, the teal and warm sandy ground, the glowing orange border of the screen – these were surprises, gifts from the paint. Small paintings ask you to lean in and reward close looking. In KEEP TALKING, that intimacy is doubled, a small painting containing a smaller screen, each drawing the viewer in.

Acrylic on Stone Paper, 15 × 21 cm