Oil on Canvas, image size: 75x50cm
I work primarily in oil on canvas, making paintings that dwell on harbours, boats, and the interplay between built edges and moving water. My practice favours modest-scale canvases that negotiate observation and memory. My process moves between direct observation and studio refinement. I begin outdoors to record light, colour, and movement, then return to the studio to simplify, layer, and resolve. To do this, I examine what is actually present on the water, stripping away literal detail to find the essential shapes underneath.
Influences come from the study of plein-air light, late-19th-century Impressionist experiments with atmosphere, and the everyday rhythms of maritime life. Together, these combine to shape paintings that convey calm, a sense of passing time, and the quiet narratives suggested by vessels at rest.
Mark Naismith-Beeley, 2026.