Sea Wall (fine art print)

Sea Wall belongs to the same small group of paintings as Nature's Insurgence, where the sea is treated less as scenery and more as a force moving directly towards you.

I used cloth as well as brush to build a wave that rises almost like a wall. The marks are loose and physical rather than descriptive, trying to catch the upward surge and the fold of water, the moment before it breaks, with cloth and knife.

The colours move away from naturalism. Yellows, oranges and pinks run through the wave as though it has taken on the heat of an Irish sunset, while cooler blue above keeps the tension between water and sky.

At that height, the wave becomes almost architectural - a barrier and a presence - before it collapses back into the sea.

As a Sunday sea swimmer, I know the thrill of walking in when waves are coming at you like walls. They hit with enough force to stop every other thought. On those days there is nothing to do but meet the water and be completely present.