Sometimes creativity needs a little space.
I took a break from painting for quite a while. It wasn’t really a conscious decision to stop, life and work simply became busy and my paints gradually took a back seat.
Recently, though, I felt the pull to start again.
I went back into the studio without any great expectations and just started painting. No pressure to create a collection or produce something perfect. I wanted to see what happened when I picked up the brushes again.
And something had changed.
I found myself working more intuitively, experimenting with oils, pastels and texture, and being far less concerned with where a painting was going. I’ve always been inspired by Australian natives and botanicals, but lately I’m enjoying letting them emerge through the layers rather than trying to control every part of the composition.
There have been banksias, waratahs, flowering gums and lots of colour appearing on the canvas, along with plenty of experimenting, painting over things and changing my mind along the way.
It has reminded me how much I love the actual process of painting.
There’s something wonderful about starting with a blank canvas and not quite knowing where it will end up. Some paintings seem to resolve themselves quickly, while others sit around the studio until I suddenly see what they need.
I think having time away has given me a different relationship with my art. I’m less interested in making everything perfect and much more interested in creating work that feels like mine.
So this little corner of my website will be somewhere I can share more of that journey. New work, works in progress, things that inspire me and probably a few paintings that change completely between beginning and end.
It feels very good to be painting again.
Ricci x
