The artwork Big Blue is one of my two original paintings within the Think Inside the Box series. They were originally painted as a method to help decompress and move my mind away from what was at the time a very stressful period in my life. They however became a gateway for so much more than that, they opened my eyes up to making positive changes and creating correct values that I try to live by each day now.

The use of the colour blue was perhaps a subconscious decision based on the way I was feeling at the time I painted this and also a reflection of the solitary nature of being an artist. The process of making these paintings is as important as the final piece itself. They take a great deal of time to paint as each square is individually applied but sometimes taking our time and switching off a little from the outside world can be the best thing for us. It is all about take it step by step.

Informed by the same gesture, the marks are used to bring a sense of unity to the composition when viewed as a whole. However, further consideration reveals that each application bears its own characteristics, encouraging the viewer to develop and interpret new forms within each work.