Something More Important Than Colour

My abstract painting began when I moved to India.

It wasn’t the saris, the signage, or the colour of the festivals that changed things.

What Mumbai gave me was something less romantic but far more useful.

It gave me space.

For the first time I had a studio where I could throw paint without worrying about the walls, the floor, or the consequences. I didn’t need to be careful, and a mistake didn’t feel expensive.

That changed everything.

Because when consequence disappears, fear disappears with it. And when fear drops away, paint behaves differently.

I could throw colour down, scrape it back, repaint it, ruin it, and rescue it again — without feeling I had to justify the mess.

For me, that freedom matters more than inspiration.

Because once you stop protecting the wall (and ceiling), you stop protecting the painting.

And that’s usually the moment when something real starts to happen in the work.