What inspired me?
 
 
Fossils are familiar from childhood, but do we ever consider their importance?
 
Many of today’s clues to the origins of life lie in fossilised remains. Not only which species lived where, but when and how they lived. Climate change can be traced back through the ages through fossils, giving insights into our own experiences. 
 
Rocks provided somewhere for the earliest life forms to anchor. Nooks and crevices provided shelter or safety for the vulnerable, or hiding places for predators. When the first land animals came ashore, it was rock that provided the stepping stones. 
 
Rock was not only the base on which life was able to begin, but in fossils it gives us the clues to how life began. 
 
The inspiration for this painting came from the idea of a newly discovered fossil-encrusted rock. The fossil motifs are inspired by Ammonites, Brittle Stars, Crinoids, Corals, and plant forms. Some are designed to be obvious; some harder to spot.
 
The fossils were modelled with epoxy clay or cast from silicone moulds, then primed and painted. The rock texture has been made with modelling paste, crackle paste, marble dust, wood shavings and sand, and then painted with acrylics.