Behind New Tide Running

Aug 02, 2026


There are moments when a painting feels less like an object and more like a quiet tide that comes in and stays with you. New Tide Running began as that feeling — an attempt to capture the gentle, inevitable movement of water and the small, luminous surprises that travel with it.

Soft washes of aqua and blue flow across the canvas, layered and reworked until the surface reads like depth and light coaxing each other forward. I threaded 23k gold through those washes the way the sea carries flecks of sunlight — a reminder that the most luminous things often arrive tucked inside the ordinary. Polished abalone shell and Australian ochres add mineral warmth and an organic shimmer, celebrating the textures that come with time and weather. The result is a textured current that seems to move even when you hold still.

There’s a kinship here with kintsugi — the art of honouring breaks and repairs. I love the idea that imperfections aren’t flaws to hide but stories to be filled with gold. In New Tide Running those small irregularities, the porous edges, the layered ridges, are honoured as part of the painting’s journey. They invite a different kind of looking: slower, kinder, and curious about how each mark speaks of change and healing.

Framed in an oak float frame, the piece breathes on the wall. The warm grain of the oak sets the cool blues and aquas in a gentle balance, like shoreline meeting sand. Its panoramic sweep makes it a hush of horizon — perfect above a sofa, in a quiet bedroom, or as the contemplative heart of a hallway where someone might pause and catch their breath.

If you stand before New Tide Running, let your gaze drift with the currents. Notice the tiny gold glimmers, the muted ochre veins, the shell-like lustre tucked into the texture. Let it be a small, steady companion for reflection — a reminder that beauty is often found in movement, in repair, and in the soft accumulation of moments.

If you’d like to see this piece in person or imagine it in your own space, I’d love to hear where you picture it.