It all started with a cup of coffee

I am thrilled to have made it through to the 2nd round of judging for the Visual Art Open. So I'm going to use this blog entry as an opportunity to share the inspiration behind my shortlisted piece, 'Manchester in passing'.

I got the inspiration for this piece when I was drinking an Americano in the upstairs of a Cafe Nero in Manchester. Coffee time is a sacred time for me. It gets my creative juices flowing and can give me the all important inspirational spark for a project. On this day I placed down my cup after a sip and I was struck by an unusual fly-on-the wall perspective of people walking by. It was at that moment that I thought, 'this would make a great painting'. So I took a quick snap.

When I returned home I began building the composition. I wanted to ensure that the viewer was drawn by the striking angle, despite it being a seemingly familiar scene. There’s a beauty in observing the world passing by and I hope that my paintings encourage people to see my vision of the world.

A few photos of the artwork on the easel

Moreover, I have to say it really is quite a wonderful thing when one’s work starts and ends with coffee. I was kindly given permission to take a photo of my piece in the very place that I was first inspired. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I’ll make the finalist list.