In July this year I embarked on a long awaited project focusing on the shore, and in particular, the submerged rocks and the ocean floor with its dappled light and marine colours. I titled it the abstract shore not because the painting genre is abstract but because I see the random abstraction of the shore itself. The rendering of this 'abstraction' led me to arrange and design the compositions to reflect this.

I mention that it was long awaited because it's a subject that required much skill and dexterity when rendered in watercolour. I've shied away from this for many years. But this year, I thought the time was right. The glorious weather inspired me to grasp the nettle and embark on the task.

Ever since I was a boy, playing on the beach, searching in rock-pools and swimming around the rocks, I've been fascinated by this 'other world'. In fact i see it more than just another world, I see it as a 'realm', separate in every way from our own habitat. I fancy that it may be a connection with an archetypal image of our beginnings - even a romantic longing for home.

The project was somewhat of a departure to my usual subject matter. And is some ways I felt it was original, from the point of view that it has always been my intention to embark on such a subject and also that it is a subject close to my heart.