Sea and Sunset

3 min readAug 24, 2024

Mother nature in all her glory — a sunset or a seascape. Despite their simplicity their beauty makes us stop in awe and enjoy a precious moment.

Water is therapeutic and the sea is a therapist. She absorbs your tension and tightness. Waves roll in and roll out washing your worries away, out to sea, albeit for an instant. The gentle lapping on the shore embraces your body. Feeling the sand beneath your feet, cool grains between your toes, there is something magical about being this close to the water. Like Claud Monet, water has been a lifelong passion for me in all its natural forms.

In my latest work, my quest to capture an impending storm brewing in the distance, I used a combination of greens and whites to capture the depths and variations of the deep blue the sea presents us with. It is tricky to recreate the scene. The sea has no actual colour of its own, it is a product of its surroundings reflected upon her surface. A more perilous approach seeking inspiration was that of Turner. In his determination to ‘experience’ the ocean in its entirety, he once had himself strapped to the mast of a ship and sailed out into a storm — an artistic crucifixion. Enthralling and wild, his actions appeal to my sense of spontaneity and danger, but I will settle for a coastal studio somewhere and continue to work en plein air when the weather permits.

This practice goes back many centuries, but was truly made an art form by the French impressionists. Like them, my desire to escape four walls and paint in an outdoor environment using natural light cannot be beaten when it comes to being inspired. The ease in which paint and easels are now transportable has made this possible. I am eager to take my painting places — literally. But what after a day at the beach, soaking in the rays, observing the changing clouds and passing of time? Then comes the heat and intensity of a sunset.

The warmth of the sun’s rays are something we crave — our skin and our bodies. I have gone to lengths to get that ‘hit’ of heat in the long dark winter months. India, LA and Turkey most recently. The sun has the natural power to alleviate pain and promote relaxation. Twinned with the calming effects of water, nature really is an underappreciated remedy to the trappings and toxicity of everyday life. We need to make the most of it.

In order to celebrate the beauty of a sunset in recent work, I used bleeding fiery oranges and crimsons across the sky. In one image, rays of gold create a shimmering effect across the surface of the sea that I have dappled flex of reds and yellows. These colours show the sea dancing to the tune of the sun as she descends from the day’s crescendo. They are in tune with her. The tips of the gentle waves nod in respect to the sun as she bows down to kiss the horizon. In another image, the skyline is urban — a juxtaposition with nature — extended by the ducking and diving silhouette of kites. These black shapes represent the desire for freedom and simplicity against the fixed structures of our lives.The freedom I felt as a kid, running kites in Northern India.

Freedom seems to be a luxury in a modern world, but if we take the time to stop and look around, the world is a gift full of colour and beauty — available to all. In the words of Money himself: ‘Every day I discover even more beautiful things. It is intoxicating to me, and I want to paint it all — my head is bursting.’
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