Where The Wild Things Are

Back to nature

Where The Wild Things Are is a large rectangular abstract painting created with a multi-coloured palette comprising of orange, yellow and green with features of blue, gold, red and crimson.

The painting has a very fluid and organic feel to it and that is an entirely deliberate thing. After having created a few explosion-type paintings I decided to loosely stick with that theme (of having a central point to grow from) but see if I could move it in a different direction.

The result is an original artwork that keeps with its radiating movements but does so in a very gentle way. So, instead of keeping rigid lines and directions, this is allowed to wander where it wants. The main blocks of colour remain fixed in position but within that the colour is free to find its own way, rather have me poke a stick at it and pull it somewhere that I decide.

Colours, details and forms

On closer inspection you can see how these flows and rivers form around and within themselves. Just when you think you’ve seen it all you get hit with another wave and then another. Such is the nature of this painting, you keep on getting the details at every turn. It is absolutely mesmerizing.

Of course, it has to work in daily life too – not just for the few precious minutes you’re spending with it now. So that’s where the subtlety of the earthier tones comes into play. Weaved within the razzmatazz and hullabaloo there’s a delicate undercurrent of muted colours that forms the underpinning of the painting.

This serves as a platform for everything else to take centre stage but the supporting cast of tones has to be there for everything else to work. This is why I feature a muted gold, dusky pink, warm terracotta and olive green – these are the break points you need to anchor yourself back to earth and they allow a painting with such a big personality to find its home in someone’s life without smacking them in the face every five minutes!