2026

Reclining nude: a new journey

Okay, let’s cut to the chase. This new painting is destined to be a good one, but I have no idea what it will look like yet. Isn’t that always the way? No point in me making one of those ‘reveal’ videos, or painting with a camera over my shoulder. That’s for technique queens. No, this will be a new journey with uncertainty, discovery and creativity. Colour pallets to be developed, shapes to explore, adjust and, perhaps, refined. Masses to be identified, stresses to be explored, shadows and highlights to be rendered, values to be created. The final image will be a total fabrication though the starting point is a photo. A body and recline. It’s been done before a million times, yet this is the very first and only time for me creating this one. The photo helps, at the beginning and for lack of a real model with all the extras – her presence, character, mood, skin, smell, movement, breathing and my ability to see around her, her surface, her life – it’s a starting point that reveals a little. I have to find the rest. The important parts, what goes on beneath the surface, what goes on in me as I brush, dab, mix, and observe; deeper and deeper, into the being, to create a new being from the distant memory of some photographer, with a girl, in a studio.

Finding the life in the image

The choices are endless. I don’t even have the canvas yet. That will take a few days. When you are faced with infinity, what do you do? Colours, forms, where to put those forms, what kind of image to create? Unfortunately, the ‘beginners mind’ intention is full of holes at a time like this. I need something to grab onto, an anchor to make a start. I have the image of the body as a photo, but it is so crude; and dead. The body, which I don’t know, is alive. At least, I assume so, although I know this photo is probably 15 years old. The image I produce, therefore, has its own journey. To find the life in this photo taken so long ago. To engineer planes, shadows, muscles beneath the surface, bone structures, proportions, skin. The unique presence of this body passed through my filters of hand and mind into an illusion born of passion and care, in a painted environment where this body exists anew, speaking its presence reborn. The challenge is huge. This is not about simple accuracy, or cleverness in creating a multitude of so-called ‘correct’ skin tones to impress simple minds and my own ego. This is the creation of a new life, of new seeing and a new identity in painterly terms; a new presence that holds together powerfully in the infinity.

Intuitive text accompanied by some of my artworks over the years - quick drawings, representational and experimental work in different media.

A few recent sketches from life drawing sessions.

Reviving a work started before the heatwave prevented progress. Dismissing the concept of 'artistic', staying honest to the work.

Memories: A look back, to softer , more humane times.

Above are three videos from 2009 that I re-discovered in April this year, that I had forgotten and that clearly outline my approach to art. 

Technical polish can be seductive, but it can also become a way of avoiding risk.

I was interested in the idea of creating an artwork that lives on the wall of the owner. Something that can be changed according to mood, according to the environment or simply just to keep the artwork alive in their consciousness as they move about their home or place of business or wherever they happen to hang it. After all we live in a world of constant movement and while an artwork is a point of reflection, a quiet place, why not also include the ability to change it as you enjoy it? So I came up the idea of nine oil paintings, that you can rearrange. Each one is gently held on a backing board with four magnets at the corners. They are easy to move. You can rotate them and put them in different places on the backing board. And I realised that the number of variations you could achieve was huge. In fact, it’s 4 to the ninth variations. That’s a total of 262,144 different combined images that you can create from these nine canvases.

I’m increasingly interested in what happens when we allow work to remain unresolved — when we live with it rather than extract meaning from it.

2025

A 2025 presentation I gave for Expertease.app. In it, I offer inspiration on creativity and how to foster it. I explore the journey of creative thinking, emphasizing the importance of play and engagement to bridge innovation gaps. Discover strategies for personal development and achieving breakthroughs in your own endeavors. It's a long one - 1 hour 41 minutes.

I bike up this hill most days whatever the weather. This painting reflects the changes in seasons and growing cycles of the farmers as I pass by their fields. It evokes the hidden changes in the land over time and the constant re-working to produce crops annually.

Original and prints: https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Up-the-hill/509139/12900737/view

2023

Meditations on trust in the artistic process. For more info, go to https://lewisevans.net.
To purchase artworks, go to https://www.saatchiart.com/lewisevans777

Meditations on my painting: The crazy crazy Earth. For more info, go to https://lewisevans.net.
To purchase artworks, go to https://www.saatchiart.com/lewisevans777