Winter 2023, attempting to capture the precise instant of 'the hollow'-the moment a massive, perfect ocean wave tubes and crests just before it breaks.

It was essential to capture the duality: the heavy, fast-moving liquid face and the explosive, chaotic foam.

The smooth, concave curve of the water was sculpted using a flexible, rounded trowel, pulling the paint in parallel strokes and adding a hint of pale grey pigment to suggest depth and shadow.

The cresting foam, by contrast, was built up using a coarse brush and stiff palette knife, stabbing and flicking thick, pure white impasto to create a chaotic, frothy texture, freezing the noise and anarchy of the moment the water turns to air.