In April, I received a commission for a horse. It’s totally outside the scope of what I normally do and because it was a commission for someone I know I was debilitated by the request. I was torn with all manner of stupid things like what size do they want it? What colours would they like? How realistic do they expect it to be?  In the end, I didn’t do anything and just let it stew at the back of my mind.

Yet, the horse kept haunting me. It stopped me doing anything else and I knew I just had to get it out. I had do at least start it and get those juices flowing.

Strangely enough, I ended up using bits of paper like a colour palette. I tore pieces and arranged them as you would paint and then progressed, wanting to create a dark image, almost like 18th century paintings of animals on country estates.

This isn’t finished yet, it’s too dark in places and the outline of the horse is lost, but after I take to it with some acrylics and more pieces of lighter papers, I think I’ll have finally got this albatross off my back.

My biggest lesson from all this? You can only create things that are true to yourself. Don’t be concerned about whether someone will like the work or not, what’s important is that you’re happy with it.