Highly individual and packed full of incredible shapes and colours this painting is one for the adventurous and those with a passion for life.
190cm x 120cm (75″ x 47″)
This is quite unusual even by my standards! In this red and silver abstract painting I have been perfecting a new series of blending techniques. The most noticeable by-product of this is the appearance of rivers and flows that meander throughout the entire painting. 
In many ways this piece of red and silver art feels like it could be a snapshot from Mars or an image from the Hubble Space telescope.
The colours are slightly muted over some of my more mainstream works but this is entirely deliberate because of the inclusion of silver.
What I was trying to achieve here was the creation of a slight haze across the painting. Silver is great for doing this, especially when you thin it down. It’s dusky metallic properties have a light reflecting sheen that creates the illusion of mist or haze.
In order to let the other colours fall in to this realm I had to use some unusual thinning compounds that effectively suck out the pigment – resulting in a less dense and more even flowing paint.
And this is how I formed all these spectacular rivers and flows. When the paint flows more you get to do some very unusual things with it. I really am at the limits of what the paint will do right now. There are some incredibly complex paint structures in here.
I’ve never done this before but I am thrilled with the result. On one hand we have a daring and stylish leap into matters of the universe and on the other we have delicate fractals that weave in and out of shimmering silver base. 
Added to all this is a slightly pink undertone that weaves through the whole painting. It’s not the primary colour that was applied to the canvas and nor was it added in any great quantity but I must have used a particular shade and thinning ratio to make it blend into all parts of the painting – like a very thin and barely visible top coat I guess… I’ve never done that before so I am equally pleased about that too.
You’re going to need a reasonable wall space for We Shone Like The Sun . It doesn’t need too much natural light and would be perfect for a passing space where you don’t have to dwell for too long – like a stairwell or landing.
If you can pop a spotlight or down lighter on it then the majesty of the silver is going to really come out. It’s perfect where you want a small splash of colour and form but don’t want to shout too loud. Equally though it would sit above a sofa very happily.
