The Story

This was my first commission. It came through Instagram when I’d barely launched my art page. The clients loved Land of the Sandmen and wanted something similar for their Perth home. They’d originally wanted sunset tones, but when I saw the space above their stairwell with sunlight pouring through the balcony windows, I suggested we shift the palette to keep it fresh and bright. Blues and turquoises over purples and oranges.

They trusted my direction, and once it was installed, they could see how much better these colours worked for the space. This piece holds every emotion of that first commission – the excitement, the anticipation, the unknown of what was to come. I knew it was going to be special, so I poured everything into it. The clients were thrilled, and the piece became more than just a commission – it was the start of something beyond the horizon. A new career, an ongoing creative partnership, and a genuine friendship that’s led to conversations about future works including figurative pieces and more abstracts for their home.

The Creation

This was my largest work yet and my first time painting on loose sheet canvas instead of stretched. My home studio didn’t have a wall big enough, so I rented a space around the corner – a shared creative studio where professionals work and kids’ art classes run in the afternoons.

I spent the week building up layers of blues, turquoises, and greens, mixing countless variations of each. The canvas was flipped, rotated, hung on the wall, spread on the floor. I worked with brushes, palette knives, sponges, and my hands. Gold foil and hand-flicked gold paint caught the light like sun hitting water. On day three I ran out of white paint…never underestimate how much white paint you need!

There were moments I’d swipe paint over a section I loved, but that’s the layered process – sometimes you have to let go of beautiful areas to reach something cohesive. New beautiful areas always emerged. The playlist on repeat spanned hip hop to indie to soul, keeping the energy flowing through long days that started early and stretched into the night. One afternoon, a young girl from the kids’ class said she wanted to be an artist when she grew up. That hit me – speaking to the younger version of myself who always loved art, now seeing where I was, making it a full-time career.

The Piece

126 x 133cm, acrylic with impasto medium and gold foil on canvas, custom floating oak frame.

Beyond the Horizon commands attention from the moment you approach the stairwell – it’s the focal point as you climb and remains the featured piece even once you’re upstairs. The scale demands it. The clients’ home in Scarborough, a beachy Perth suburb, is the perfect setting. Light hits it differently throughout the day, revealing new shimmer and texture each time.

The layered composition creates depth. Some areas glisten while others stay matte, darker greens and blues in one corner transition into softer pastel blues and creamy whites elsewhere. Horizontal movements through the middle suggest waves and horizon lines. It’s the kind of piece you can get lost in, finding new details each time you look. This coastal palette and style perfectly captures what resonates with clients in Torquay and beyond – that serene ocean energy that brings calmness to a space. The piece exceeded the brief by steering away from sunset tones and embracing the fresh, luminous quality of daylight on water. Flying over to Perth to meet the clients and see it installed was unforgettable – a milestone I’ll treasure forever.