The Afternoon Room

Some paintings arrive slowly, through layers of observations and uncertainty, and others

seem to gather themselves almost quietly over time. The Afternoon Room felt somewhere

in between.

This new 100x100cm oil painting became less about describing a particular place and more about trying to capture atmosphere...the feeling of being inside a room while the landscape beyond the window continues to shift with light, reflection and movement.

I wanted the figure to remain soft and suggested rather than fully described. Not a formal portrait, but more a presence within the room itself. Is she asleep, lost in thought, simply resting for a moment? I liked leaving that slightly uncertain. She becomes suspended within the atmosphere of the painting itself, almost dissolving into the light and colour around her.

As I continue painting, I find myself becoming more interested in the spaces between things...interiors, memory and observation, softness and structure. I am trying to allow the paint to breathe more, to leave areas unresolved, and to trust atmosphere over detail.

The moving curtain became an important part of the composition for me. It introduces movement into an otherwise still scene and helps connect the outside world with the quietness of the interior space.

This painting also marks an important point in my work. I am becoming increasingly drawn towards larger oil paintings that feel more personal and painterly, where colour, mood and gesture matter just as much as the subject itself.

The Afternoon Room is available directly from my studio

Oil on canvas

100 x 100cm

Many thanks for reading

Natalie x