The story behind this series of paintings began at Life Drawing in Fitzroy where I met the beautiful model Paloma Setaro. We organised a photo shoot and I spent many days preparing a set. I painted a backdrop and played with lighting and mirrors until the desired atmosphere was achieved. Paloma was a delight to photograph, her poses were graceful and effortless and I knew I would have ample material that would inspire many paintings. It took about 4 paintings to land on the style that you see in these works. Initially I approached them with a tighter, more realistic technique, which wasn’t really exciting me, so I loosened up with charcoal and chose a limited palette. Negative space was a big consideration, I wanted to leave space to breathe on the canvas, to let the eye rest and then find its way back to the expressive marks.