The Shorelines We Carry With Us
Over the last couple of weeks, four paintings from one collection have all found new homes.
What struck me most wasn’t the colours people chose, or the size of the pieces. It was the stories behind them. Each painting was chosen because of a personal connection to a place.
A beach visited every summer as a child.
A coastline tied to family memories.
A place where someone felt calm again after a difficult season.
A stretch of shoreline linked forever to a person they love.
It reminded me of something I think many of us feel deeply, especially when it comes to the ocean:
Certain places never really leave us.
Even years later, we can still remember the feeling of standing there. The smell of salt in the air. The wind against our skin. The way time seemed to slow down for a moment.
I think that’s why people feel such an emotional connection to the coast. It becomes woven into our lives and memories in a way few other places do. And perhaps that’s why creating these paintings feels so personal to me.
I’ve never wanted my work to simply “match a room.”
What matters most to me is creating pieces that reconnect people to something meaningful - a memory, a feeling, a moment of stillness, freedom or nostalgia they want to hold onto.
That’s why texture plays such an important role in my work.
I build layers slowly using reclaimed textiles, sand, fibreglass offcuts, old fabrics and materials that already carry their own history. I want the surface of each piece to feel alive with movement and memory, almost as though the painting itself has been weathered by the elements.
Because memory itself is layered.
The more I evolve as an artist, the more I realise I’m not simply painting the sea. I’m exploring connection to place.
To emotion. To transformation. To the feeling of returning to ourselves.
And recently, I’ve found myself thinking more deeply about the environments in which people experience art too.
About slowing things down.
About creating more meaningful ways for people to connect with the work in person - to see the texture properly, spend time with pieces, feel immersed in them rather than simply scrolling past them on a screen.
There are some changes coming from the end of this month around how and where I’ll be creating and showing my work, and honestly, it feels like a very natural evolution of everything I’ve been exploring creatively this year.
I can’t wait to share more soon.
For now, there are still a small number of original paintings currently available online, each inspired by a shoreline, memory or feeling connected to the sea.
And if you ever feel unsure about choosing a piece online, you’re always welcome to arrange a viewing appointment with me. Sometimes seeing the texture, scale and movement in person changes everything.
Gem
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