Ever felt living in a busy metropolis can, at times, feel suffocating and claustrophobic, as though you’re living on a perpetual, ground hog, tread mill? It’s at times like this I appreciate more than anything the green spaces and parks of London. This painting, inspired by the concrete skate park set within Roundwood Park, near where I live in Harlesden is a place I often go with my son.

Whilst he skoots and skates I find the smells, sights and richness (for a city) of nature surrounding us, restores, nourishes and feeds my soul. With the rise of technology and industry we may have distanced ourselves superficially from nature but it has not changed our reliance on the natural world. Most of what we use and consume remains the product of multitudes of interactions with nature. And let’s not forget the less tangible gifts nature gives us all in terms of its beauty, art and spirituality. And yet without the concrete urban jungle I love living in I’m certain I wouldn’t appreciate nature and its bounties as much as I do.

MediaOil, Acrylic, Auto Paints & Mixed Media on CanvasSize130x180 cm