Under Blue: Inspired by the Sacred Landscape of the Blue Mountains

Some places leave a lasting impression long after you have returned home.

Walking in Australia's Blue Mountains was one of those experiences for me. It inspired Under Blue, a painting that seeks to capture not only the movement and colour of the landscape, but also the thoughts and emotions I experienced while walking there.

The Blue Mountains, and the Three Sisters in particular, are sacred land. As I painted, I found myself reflecting on the deep ancestral connection between people and place. There is a powerful sense that the land holds its own stories, memories and energy, and I wanted to acknowledge that through the painting.

The journey was especially meaningful because I shared it with my husband and, on my first visit to Australia, with my Australian mother, Ann, and her husband, Frank. Experiencing such an extraordinary landscape together made the memories even more significant and gave the painting an added sense of connection.

Back in the studio, I wasn't trying to recreate the landscape exactly as I had seen it. Instead, I wanted to express how it felt. Through flowing forms, layered colour and intuitive mark-making, Under Blue became a response to the movement, atmosphere and quiet presence of the place itself.

While working on the painting, I spent time reflecting on the ancestral energy of the land and the relationship we have with the places we inhabit and pass through. It is a subject that feels increasingly relevant to my creative practice and one that continues to emerge naturally through my work.

Under Blue sits alongside Under Wali, another painting that explores our connection with the land and the unseen energy it can hold. Together, they form part of my latest series, UNDULATES, a collection that continues my exploration of movement, emotion and the rhythms of the natural world.

My hope is that Under Blue offers viewers more than a landscape. I hope it creates a space to pause, reflect and connect with the feelings that certain places awaken within us, long after we have left them behind.