This painting is part of my balloon series, one of the series I work on as a bit of a distraction from the intricate details of my figurative paintings. These have been joyful works to make as the balloon often brings its own narrative.
I have a bit of an obsession with photographing walls, doors and windows on my travels and I always imagine the stories unfolding behind them.
The wall in this painting is from the village of Monemvasia, my favourite village in the Peloponnese and probably in all of Greece. It's a medieval city carved on the back of a sea rock and accessible only by a paved walkway. There are no cars, no noise - just ancient stone with the sea battering up against it, and the feeling that you've slipped through a crack in time. It's wild and free and I loved it.
