The Opening

The Opening began with a simple feeling: missing summer in the middle of winter.

I made this painting at home in the UK during winter. I love both seasons, but there was something about the grey, colder days that made me want to bring a little warmth into the canvas without losing the feeling of winter completely.

I started with a muted blue-grey acrylic background rather than a white canvas. Then came the golden circle — my little piece of summer in the middle of winter. I drew it using a large mixing bowl as a guide. It was supposed to be a perfect circle. It wasn't. And, honestly, I'm still not sure whether that was intentional or accidental.

From there, the painting became much more tactile. I added crackling paste across the background and built up the area around the circle with air-dry clay, shaping it by hand and with a palette knife. Once everything had dried, I added gold leaf around the edges and silver details across the surface. The silver brought the winter feeling back into the painting, so the two seasons ended up living together in the same piece.

That's one of the things I enjoy most about working with texture. You can start with an idea, but you also have to give the materials some freedom to do their own thing. Sometimes they surprise you — and sometimes the imperfect parts become part of what makes the work feel right.

For me, The Opening is a meeting of two seasons: cool blue-grey, white and silver bringing the feeling of winter, with the gold bringing warmth and a little bit of summer into the middle of it. It started with a circle, a mixing bowl and an idea. The rest came from playing with the surface and seeing where it would take me.

I hope the painting gives you that same contrast — a feeling of warmth from the gold, alongside the coolness of winter coming through the cracks and layers.

Dimensions: 60 × 60 × 5 cm
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Signed: By Hoza