A WORLD WITHIN A WORLD: The Magic of Getting Close to a Painting

There's a moment I cherish when I stand just a foot away from one of my paintings. From a distance, it reads as a whole-an image, a mood, a composition. But up close... everything changes. Suddenly, I'm no longer looking at a painting; I'm stepping into a microcosm, a world that exists within the world.

Up close, textures reveal themselves like secret landscapes. Each brushstroke carries movement, intention, and energy, whispering stories that vanish if you only glance from afar. Colours interact in unexpected ways, layers overlap and create depth that can be felt as much as it can be seen. Tiny imperfections, the subtle ridges and valleys of paint, become mountains, rivers, or abstract echoes of life itself.

There's something almost magical in noticing these microcosms. Shapes emerge, forms suggest themselves, and sometimes our imaginations take over-pareidolia at play, where the mind finds faces, figures, or hidden narratives in the paint. it's a reminder that art is alive, not fixed, that every inch holds surprises for those willing to look.

Being this close is intimate. It invites patience, reflection and wonder. It's a reminder that even within something as seemingly small as painting, there is an entire universe waiting to be discovered-if we slow down, lean in, and allow ourselves to see beyond the surface.

To me, this experience mirrors life itself. we often rush past moments, seeing only the big picture. But if we step closer, observe the details, linger a little longer, the ordinary transforms into something extraordinary. Every texture, every nuance, every hidden corner has it's story-a world within a world, waiting to be explored.

So next time you encounter a painting, I invite you yo step closer. Notice the layers, the movements, the tiny secrets tucked into the corners. Lean in. There's a universe there-and it's yours to discover.