Plastic Oceans

The call of the sea is powerful, and I very often need to spend time within sight or sound of it. My personal challenge is for my art to evoke the emotions I felt on the beach where I grew up, in Famagusta, Cyprus, in a house right on the beach. I can still sense the warm sand between my toes and the sea breeze in my hair. Tragically that home was lost to me in the trauma of war.

That deep sense of loss is what always brings me back to painting the sea. My subjects are the water itself, beaches, marinas, boats, wet stones and rocks, memories from my carefree childhood. Using strong tonal forms and a vivid colour palette my paintings are visual representations of inner feelings; they are pathways for understanding the connections we share as humans with each other and our environment.

Now plastic pollution threatens all coastlines and we all stand to lose the beauty of the oceans. This invisible danger is wreaking havoc with our environment, choking the sea and killing its precious wildlife, turtles, birds and fish. For me, the sea, water in general, symbolises the journey of life. Time, happiness, sadness, dreams, even infinity, are all linked to it. It is the energy that surrounds us and gives us life.