Montriond

There’s an excitment when you get a new commission: it’s an opportunity to get to know someone in a different way. I hear about what they value, the people and places that are important to them. And there’s the adrenaline too: needing to produce a piece of work within a timeframe, hoping that they will like it.

This painting was commissioned as a surprise gift to mark a milestone birthday. I was sent photos of the family’s trips to Lake Montriond in the Alps to use as a starting point.

The photos create creative parameters - they might suggest a colour palette, or the beginnning of a compositional structure. Contraint leads to creativity - but once the painting has begun, it will take its own course. The images help me put myself someone else’s shoes and find my way through their memories. It feels like an exercise in creative empathy.

With this painting, the starting point was imagining the sensation of the lake’s icy water as you start to go in. The photos that spoke to me were all around the edges of the lake - kids playing on the shore, the adults steeling themselves to go in for a swim. I could imagine the gritty feeling of the earth under my feet, the chill of the water as reaches your bones. Dancing in and out of the water, the anticipation of submersion, and chatter of voices around.