In 2024 I moved to Europe to hone my skills as a tonal impressionist painter, and since then have called the city of Berlin home. A city that from the very first days challenged, excited, tested, pushed, broke and remade me. 

In these works you will find traces of the love, beauty, pain, peace, and awe that I have felt whilst wrapped in the embrace of this new place.

They will also take you to a life drawing retreat in Sardinia, a figure painting intensive in rural France, and a life changing residency in the solitude of northern Friesland. And in my largest work, a place imagined but inspired by Arcadia, a pastoral idyll where the gods of ancient Greece still live.

While curating this show, I was aware that the lessons I have learnt in paint are evident and tangible; to work fast and loose, keeping my brushwork open to achieve a painting that 'feels' more than it 'tells'. Letting my instincts lead, and letting go of control.

In some ways these new lessons are transferable to my life experience as well, and I largely have this city, or more accurately, the people in this city, to thank for this.

I feel honoured to bring this collection back to VAS to share what I have experienced. And with the help of this show I will be able to return to Europe to continue the journey, and answer the call.