Portfolio Update – March 2025
Exciting news! I’ve secured a booking at Colonnade House Gallery this June, where I’ll be exhibiting new works alongside my daughter’s custom-made masks, which will be displayed in small frames I’ve built for her.
Lately, I’ve been adding a new dimension to my canvas pieces by painting the backs and incorporating raised numbering and my Rebel Romeo signature using a mix of filler and acrylic. This not only gives each piece a sense of succession but also reinforces its identity as part of an evolving series.
I’ve also begun work on my next large canvas, “She Didn’t Know” (No. 4). This piece reimagines a graffiti work I originally spray-painted on a green electrical box at the end of Rowlands Road, Worthing. To stay true to the original, I measured the box precisely and mirrored its panel layout on canvas using joint filler, 1mm model masking tape, and a smooth sanded finish. The background is being spray-painted in light green, with a patina effect created using moisturising lotion as a paint resist. Once complete, I’ll use the original stencil and colour to capture the essence of the street piece in this new format.
Looking forward to sharing more progress soon!
Studio Work 2024-2025
“Reflections in the Rain”
This 100cm x 120cm mixed-media artwork embodies beauty in destruction, merging urban decay with raw emotion. Layers of acrylic and spray paint blend with Venetian plaster, steel mesh, and concrete, creating a surface that feels like a fragment of a forgotten wall. The steel mesh is torn and peeled back, exposing the structure beneath, while the concrete was shattered in place with a hammer, its fragments left undisturbed and fixed with poured glue, preserving the exact moment of impact.
The stenciled words read:
“I saw her pain, and felt it too… so I wished for her to be happy, so I could feel that too.”
Part of the Rebel Romeo graffiti series, this piece transforms the ephemeral into the permanent—capturing the fragility of emotion within the weight of destruction, where something broken becomes something enduring.
“Reflections in the Rain” represents my latest work to be completed 05/03/2025.
Process Overview – “Reflections in the Rain”
This piece evolved through layered experimentation, pushing the limits of how much texture and depth could be built on canvas.
1. Base Texture – Applied a thick layer of matte wall paint for an initial textured foundation.
2. Aged Surface – Used acrylic paints to create a worn effect, then stenciled and spray-painted the text.
3. First Structural Layer – Mixed poly filler with black acrylic to form a grey layer, then sanded it back.
4. Color Experimentation – Applied peacock blue paint over the poly filler, unsure of the choice but continued forward.
5. Metallic Contrast – Switched to gold Venetian plaster, sanding and polishing to reveal underlying textures.
6. Color Wash – Attempted a peacock blue wash to tie layers together, but found the result unsatisfactory.
7. Extreme Distressing – Added galvanized steel mesh and poured concrete, then cut, peeled, and shattered the surface, securing fragments with poured glue.
Throughout the process, I followed my artistic mantra: “There are no mistakes in art.” I often push a piece beyond a point of satisfaction, sometimes becoming unhappy with results and reworking/adding layers multiple times. The final result is always more complex, raw, and satisfying than if I had stopped earlier.
Brick background
—Experimenting with materials—
This project began as a test piece to explore lightweight alternatives to traditional brick slips, resulting in a convincingly realistic faux brick surface. Built on an old games tabletop, the process started by adhering brick-sized cardboard cutouts with hot glue, using real brick slips as a size template—though they were ultimately set aside due to their weight. The surface was then coated with jointing and filler compound, creating the look and texture of aged masonry.
Once the structure was set, acrylic paint was used to bring the bricks to life, adding depth, shading, and natural variation.
Pleased with the outcome, the project will now be expanded, incorporating a concrete-effect corner and fake moss, inspired by the weathered walls of Montague Street in Worthing. This will enhance the aged, urban aesthetic, blending realism with artistic craftsmanship.
“Never Settle”
A statement torn from the walls of the past and etched into time once more. Originally written in 2017 as a fleeting Instagram post, these words found permanence as a graffiti mural in Worthing the following spring. In 2024, they were reborn on canvas—100cm x 120cm of layered history—revived for exhibition at Colonnade House during the Worthing Festival.
But the story didn’t end there. While creating the next piece in the collection, Reflections in the Rain, I found myself drawn back to Never Settle. The process of layering and distressing “Reflections in the Rain” opened new creative possibilities, inspiring me to revisit Never Settle with a fresh perspective. What began as a direct recreation of the mural transformed into something richer—an evolving relic of time and memory.
I introduced a fractured, aged gold border using Venetian plaster, polished yet broken, giving the piece the appearance of a weathered artifact. The cracks, deliberately shaped and emphasized, became a reflection of resilience—proof that even in decay, beauty can emerge. What was once complete had more to say, and in its imperfections, the message became stronger: Never Settle.
Using the original stencil to recreate “Never Settle”
My daughter Luna helping me gold leaf the border
Standing with my Mother at Colonnade House June 2024.
“Seed of Life ”
Mixed media on canvas.
A single dandelion seed drifts skyward, fragile yet full of life, carried by an unseen force toward the brilliance of the sun. Below, the skeletal remains of a ruined building stand in stark contrast—once thriving, now fractured and lifeless, yet still whispering echoes of the past. The sky, painted in vibrant blues, pulses with energy, streaked with light that radiates renewal, possibility, and quiet defiance.
Created with acrylic and spray paint, Seed of Life is a meditation on resilience. Even in the aftermath of destruction, life persists. The dandelion seed—small, weightless, yet determined—rises beyond the ruins, seeking new ground, a new beginning. No matter the wreckage left behind, life always finds a way forward.
“Hind”
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas.
A tribute to Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who tragically lost her life on January 29, 2024. This piece was created in remembrance of her story and the many innocent lives affected by conflict.
“Hind Rajab (2017/2018 – 29 January 2024) was a six-year-old Palestinian girl from the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City who was killed by the Israeli military, after being the sole survivor of Israeli tank fire on the vehicle in which she had fled with six relatives.” – Wikipedia
For this piece, I wanted to create an ethereal, dreamlike night sky. I painted the background first, layering glow-in-the-dark paints with acrylics to achieve a luminous depth. The perspective is designed to make it feel as though you’re looking up at the night sky, with a silhouetted tree line framing the view.
To bring Hind’s presence into the scene, I began with a stencil to form the figure’s outline, then worked by hand to refine the details, adding a dark wash to blend her form into the background, uniting the elements of light and shadow.
“Child of Palestine”
Mixed media on canvas (1015mm x 815mm).
A portrait of Sama Al-Sultan, a young Palestinian girl, painted to highlight the resilience and spirit of Palestinian children. The background was a collaborative effort with the help of Amelia Porter (12), Noah Riley (11), Harriet Porter (10), and Luna Riley (10), emphasizing the importance of unity and awareness.
