Atlas
Work-in-progress
A turtle bears an ocean world on her back, providing a haven for the marine life of our world.
At 2.1 x 1.8 metres, Atlas is the largest, most ambitious painting I have tackled to date.
She carries a vibrant coral reef, teeming with boundless biodiversity, home to an abundance of ocean animals from majestic whale sharks to tiny nudibranch. But all is not well. Atlas will bear evidence of humanity's impact, from coral bleaching to plastic pollution.
Just as the Greek Titan Atlas was cursed by Zeus to carry the heavens on his shoulders, here Atlas the turtle carries the ocean world on her back, perhaps cursed by humanity.
Atlas is both a celebration of the wonders of life in our oceans and an exploration of the issues endangering them.
Painting Atlas is my effort to tell the story of the challenges and opportunities our oceans face, at this critical juncture where our decisions and actions now will determine the fate of our blue planet.
I anticipate the final painting will take 18 months to complete. Before embarking on such a huge and complex composition, I undertook several planning stages which you can see below.
I'll share photos of my progress on here from time to time and I hope you enjoy following Atlas over the coming months.
Development of Atlas
 Idea sketch |  Rough plan |  60 x 80cm preliminary painting |
|---|---|---|
 'Origins' a section painted to scale |  Preliminary paintings Atlas & Origins |  2.1 x 1.8 metre painting board |
 From plan to canvas |  April 2023 |  May 2023 |
 June 2023 |  Stage 1 complete |  Plan to draft |
 First detailed section |
