Painting for Dreams: Immortalising the unreal - Gate, Oil on Canvas, 2014

Have you ever dreamt so vividly that as you drift back into reality, you grasp wildly at the fading details of the place you just left? Dreaming is one of my favourite hobbies, and on occasion I've been able to return to places I dreamt of years prior. As regular life takes over, I rarely remember these places until I'm there, then am overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu.

Hoping to save a glimpse of these elaborates places and scenarios, I began to keep a dream diary. It didn't take long to accept that words are not my forte. Some people I know can twist and form language to create an image much like a painting; not me! I've always been a painter, and so it made sense to attempt to re-create these places in paint. As we all visualise and remember things differently, it felt right to put the dream and the feelings it evoked straight into an image.

The above painting was the result of a very vivid dream and recreated to the best of my ability in oil on handmade stretcher and canvas. The abstract style allows me the freedom to describe the symbols and fractured nature of the reality contained within the dream.

I hope you enjoyed this one! If you have any dreamscapes to share please post a link below, It's exciting to see how artists approach this challenge.