STALKS, SHADOWS, December 2025

I found the dried stems for STALKS, SHADOWS by a frozen waterfall in Iceland in early December—monumental in scale, giant versions of familiar plants, dead but not withered. I brought them back and painted them from observation that same day.

I began with a cerulean blue ground, a cold colour to offset the browns of the dried shoots. Thick paint evokes the texture of the plants, creating an almost tactile quality, the surface mirroring the physical presence of the oversized stems.

The cold blue ground remains visible, anchoring the composition and suggesting the frozen landscape where I found them.

Acrylic on Stone Paper, 21 × 29 cm

STALKS, SHADOWS is in the Society of Women Artists’ Annual Exhibition, 2026