'The Gilded Age' — Cold Wax, Oil and Gold Enamel

This multi-layered mixed media oil painting represents a development of my New Forest series and continues my engagement with nature and land. The surface consists of multiple layers of oil and cold wax, with a marked impasto and strong textural qualities.

The gold enamel has a soft patina and mirrors elements of the colour and tone of the immediate environment. Gold has been applied selectively to some of the vertical forms, providing intense points of reflective light against the deeper, more muted ground.

The painting engages with ideas of growth, flowering and renewal — the cycle of seasons made visible in the accumulation and erosion of the painted surface.