'The Old World' original painting

The Old World

Within my landscape work, I occasionally explore more symbolic subject matter. The Old World is one of these paintings.

There is a raw honesty and creative abundance in the natural world — something that has always called to me.

The woman embodies feminine creative power, standing at the threshold on the edge of the cliff. Beside her is the wolf — her guide, representing the untamed part of my nature that moves by a deeper instinct.

Together they stand amongst the elements, within a storm that is electric and alive. It reflects both the shifting weather within me and the storms that move through life around me - forces to be weathered, but also forces I recognise as part of myself.

Beyond them, the vast ocean holds emotion, mystery and the unknown, while the moon speaks to intuition, the subconscious and what lies hidden.

From the hard rock of the cliff, a tree breaks through and flourishes where it shouldn’t be able to grow - resilience made visible. 

We are biological beings of this Earth, intrinsically part of the natural world. Yet there is something within nature that reaches beyond the material - an unseen presence that can be deeply felt, even when it cannot be put into words.

That connection runs deeply through who I am and ultimately, it is why I paint landscapes.