This work forms part of an ongoing investigation into painting in dialogue with musical structure. Referencing the Mephisto Waltz by Franz Liszt, the painting engages with a quieter passage of the composition, where intensity is held in suspension before re-emerging.
The image is organised around a compressed horizon and a restrained atmospheric field. Subtle shifts in tone and colour accumulate across the surface, creating a sense of contained energy rather than overt movement. Light emerges gradually, forming a low band along the horizon that suggests transition without resolution.
Cloud formations are softened and dispersed, allowing the painting to operate through nuance and tonal relationships rather than directional force. The darker land mass anchors the composition, heightening the tension between stillness and underlying momentum.
Executed alla prima, the work retains immediacy while emphasising control and reduction. Wet-on-wet handling allows tonal transitions to remain fluid, with marks resolving into a quieter, more cohesive field.
Rather than illustrating narrative content, the painting translates the underlying conditions of the music—compression, anticipation and latent energy—into a visual language shaped by atmosphere, rhythm and material process.
Medium: Oil paint on plywood panel, framed in Italian timber
Subject: Dusk sky with low light over a darkened horizon
Colour palette: Magenta, cadmium yellow, orange, vermilion, violet, burnt umber, ultramarine, indigo, white
This work forms part of an ongoing investigation into painting in dialogue with musical structure. Referencing the Mephisto Waltz by Franz Liszt, the painting engages with a quieter passage of the composition, where intensity is held in suspension before re-emerging.
The image is organised around a compressed horizon and a restrained atmospheric field. Subtle shifts in tone and colour accumulate across the surface, creating a sense of contained energy rather than overt movement. Light emerges gradually, forming a low band along the horizon that suggests transition without resolution.
Cloud formations are softened and dispersed, allowing the painting to operate through nuance and tonal relationships rather than directional force. The darker land mass anchors the composition, heightening the tension between stillness and underlying momentum.
Executed alla prima, the work retains immediacy while emphasising control and reduction. Wet-on-wet handling allows tonal transitions to remain fluid, with marks resolving into a quieter, more cohesive field.
Rather than illustrating narrative content, the painting translates the underlying conditions of the music—compression, anticipation and latent energy—into a visual language shaped by atmosphere, rhythm and material process.
Medium: Oil paint on plywood panel, framed in Italian timber
Subject: Dusk sky with low light over a darkened horizon
Colour palette: Magenta, cadmium yellow, orange, vermilion, violet, burnt umber, ultramarine, indigo, white
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Image 2 of 2