Slip Sliding Away

Oil paint on canvas and canvas board

Size: 40 x 40.5 x 2.5 cm

Framed: 43 x 43 x 4 cm

The seeds for ‘Slip Sliding Away’ were planted when I looked across my room and saw a vibrant bowl of fruit and a vase of delicate flowers. One of the flowers was just starting to wilt—its beauty, fleeting—like precious moments in life. Soon the other flowers would follow, then the fruit! What if they could all just merge together and dance in one last hurrah of fiery reds, oranges, and cool pinks – a playful, joyous chaos? It had to be attempted.

While I was painting, Paul Simon’s “Slip Sliding Away” kept echoing in my head:

“You know the nearer your destination

The more you’re slip slidin’ away.”

— Paul Simon

This led to the idea of mounting the linen canvas on a plain linen backing board and allowing the paint to bleed onto it. In some ways, it reminds me of how even the familiar shifts when we find ourselves somewhere new. Perhaps that’s why I love travel so much.