66 cm (w) x 66 cm (h), oil paints on cotton canvas.
Date produced: 1986 - 1987

The original idea for this piece was developed as a pastel drawing on brown paper, from another pastel drawing carried out on-site during one sunset, seen at West Beach. The square shape and placement of the sun in the exact centre of the square are deliberate compositional choices. I wanted a mesmerising sun, a sun which provides our daylight, a sun which is the centre of all continued life on our planet, and a sun that appears to rise and set on a daily basis (hence picking a time just before sunset).

I wanted a simple composition, which could be like a classical symbol with a strong statement. In this way, I wanted to develop an image which was similar in nature to many of the paintings by Vincent van Gogh. So we have the sky, the sea, the approaching night, and the sun with its brilliant, warm radiance. Light is broken down into pure, ‘simple’ colours (I actually found that the subtle tone of the colours was vitally important for the sense of radiation), applied with deliberate radiating strokes. I have only used round strokes within the sun itself.

I was very happy with the balance of colours and the overall tone. The paint is quite thick and that helps the impact of the radiating strokes. The yellows and oranges are mixes of genuine Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Red pigments - very expensive and toxic, but superb in their purity and brightness of colour.

The real painting is so much better than the reproductions shown here!