In 2013 I spent 9 weeks living in a diverse tropical forest in Bolivia, at NGO and animal refuge Communidad Inti Wara Yassi. Responding to this profound and personal experience I realised I was deeply affected by the colour I had been surrounded by and wanted to share this.

Once I had returned to my studio I began a new part of the journey - an exploration of the colour green and how to represent, through paint, the vitality and beauty of the forest.

Green, is a complicated palette to work with – there are more possible tones of green than any other colour. I spent weeks experimenting with colour mixing and process; trying to recreate my experience through paint whilst finding balance in extremely vivid tones of green – this large triptych is the result.

I hoped to present the vitality and strength of the forest, and to create a sense of immersion. I utilised several perspectives within the compositions. Many layers of oil glaze allowed me to create dramatic depth between the shadowed and light areas which were present when the intense sun shone down through the jungle canopy, onto the forest floor.