1996 – 1999
This series began after a chance encounter in Edinburgh in the mid-1990s with a man named Jimmy. He had once been homeless and still lived a transient life. One day, he showed me his favourite place to sleep—at the base of a tree. It was a small gesture that stayed with me.
That summer, lying under a tree, I kept hearing Jimmy’s voice describing the peace of sleeping beneath branches. Looking up through the canopy, I was struck by the rhythm of leaves, branches, and sky. In that moment, I saw a painting.
In our dense, urban lives, I wanted to create a moment of stillness—a window into nature’s quiet beauty. Over two years, I developed this series to capture that experience: lying under a tree, watching the world shift above.
During this time, my first child was born, and I shared her primary care. Many days we’d go to the park, spread a rug under a tree, and while she played or napped, I painted. Those quiet hours remain treasured memories.
These works hold the imprint of that time: stillness, movement, and the quiet joy of looking up through leaves.
Black Possum Gallery 