Not for sale

Shown as part of my ongoing body of work.

This painting shows my youngest son, completely absorbed.

He is squeezing soap into his hands, watching it closely.

Nothing else exists in that moment.

The light falls across his face from the bathroom window. The rest of the space drops away. What remains is focus, curiosity, and the quiet seriousness with which children approach the ordinary.

The painting was made using a reference photograph. In working from it, I found myself returning to the memory of that space and that time. Standing together at the sink. Brushing teeth. Washing hands. Moments that pass almost unnoticed, until they are gone.

The act of painting became a way of reinforcing the memory rather than inventing it

About the work

I rarely paint portraits. Faces usually enter my work through drawing, or appear more distantly within a scene. Here, the face fills the canvas, not as a formal portrait, but as a way of staying close to both the image and the experience it refers to.

It sits at the beginning of my work with oil paint, and at the centre of my ongoing interest in attention, presence, and everyday life.

Artwork details

Title: Squeezing Soap

Year: 2025

Medium: Oil on stretched canvas

Size: 40 × 30 cm

Finish: Unframed

Status: Not for sale