I genuinely don’t know yet if this painting is finished.

And maybe that’s exactly the point.

Lullaby was built from two completely separate references. Charlotte and Sarah never posed together. I had to re-construct the scene slowly, and it took a long time before these two belonged to the same emotional space. 

That painting process alone took a long time.

The painting measures 120 × 120 cm and, very early on — while sketching — I realised the composition was built around a strong diagonal movement connecting the two figures and splitting the square almost in half. Once I saw that structure emerge, the square format became unavoidable.

From there, the real challenge started. Different skin tones. Different lighting situations. Different memories too.

Honestly, that was exactly the part that fascinated me most as a painter.

Trying to create one continuous visual journey between these two women. Trying to make the light travel naturally between them. Trying to harmonise the figures first — and then harmonise them with the rest of the painting itself.

I never wanted to resolve the entire painting. There are sections I intentionally left raw. One of my favourite passages in the entire painting is actually the unfinished foot in the lower right corner. That yellow there is spray paint, on top of layers of acrylics, modelling paste, gesso, pastels and charcoal.

What happened with this painting, though, is that while I was still brainstorming, a gallery reached out to exhibit it. The painting is still hanging in London, near Battersea Power Station.

I'm looking forward to it returning because, frankly, I still cannot see this painting as finished.

It takes a lot of courage to put a work out there for everyone to look at while, inside, you feel it is not finished yet. It's like getting undressed in front of an audience.

But then, I have done that plenty of times, so I know the feeling — being in the middle, totally naked, while people stare at you.

This is exactly how I started: modelling during life drawing classes at the Candid Arts galleries in London, back in 2010...

And just as that awkward feeling eventually became normal, so does the feeling of showing your paintings halfway through.

Lullaby is already in my shop for purchase . Click here to see what else is available