I painted the Thames from Richmond Hill as an homage to JMW Turner, my first inspiration for becoming a landscape painter. That viewpoint holds a special place for me. I've visited it many times over the years, drawn by the same sweeping bend of the Thames that captivated him: the light shifting constantly, the river curving away into a soft distance, a bucolic stillness that feels almost suspended in time.
But I never painted it so this piece is my first attempt to answer that long-standing pull, to stop witnessing the view and finally respond to it. I painted it en plein air with palette knife only, a few colours and nothing else because working outside with a knife lets me travel light, respond fast, and push the paint thick where the light demands it.