Figurative painting

Today I started a figurative painting of Eva. I chose this memory because both of my children used this bouncer, and it immediately transported me back to those early years of motherhood. I remember the feeling of not wanting to wake her because she had finally fallen asleep. At the same time, I wanted her to lie comfortably, but I knew that as soon as I picked her up, she would be wide awake and ready to go straight back into the bouncer. It was a strange balance between uncertainty and peace, a feeling that many parents will recognise.

After creating so many abstract paintings, I wanted to do something different and return to the original reason I started this project. Listening to *Clair de Lune*, which played on Eva's mobile lullaby, brings back strong memories of early motherhood and all the emotions that came with it. Creating a figurative painting felt like a natural way to revisit those memories and explore them from a different perspective. The collaborative painting session with Kate and Kai also encouraged me to look at my work from another angle and gave me the confidence to revisit figurative painting.

I am really happy with how this painting turned out, particularly the composition. The reference photograph was taken from above, creating an interesting viewpoint and areas of foreshortening that challenged me as a painter. There were parts that I struggled with, especially the carpet and background details. This made me think about artists such as Turner, whose work often suggests rather than describes. With only a few brushstrokes, he could create the impression of a figure, a landscape or an atmosphere without needing to paint every detail.

This is an approach that I find myself increasingly drawn to. While I have enjoyed working abstractly throughout this project, this painting has reminded me how much I enjoy figurative work. Moving forward, I would like to explore this balance further, particularly the more suggestive areas of a painting, using fewer details and more expressive marks to capture the essence of a subject rather than every detail.