A Steady Light
Inspired by Plymouth's iconic Smeaton's Tower, A Steady Light explores one of the recurring themes in my work: the quiet reassurance of familiar lights after dark. Although painted as part of my exploration of coastal landmarks, the painting found a deeply personal connection with its new owner through memories of sailing and returning safely home.
Lighthouses have always represented far more than navigation. Long before satellite navigation, they offered reassurance that land was near, home wasn't far away, and a journey was almost complete.
What interested me wasn't the lighthouse as a landmark, but what it represents emotionally. Against the deep blue of the evening sky, the steady beam becomes a symbol of familiarity and comfort, something constant in an ever-changing landscape.
Like much of my work, A Steady Light explores how light shapes not just the places around us, but the way we feel about them.
One of the joys of selling original paintings is discovering the stories they continue to collect.
A Steady Light found its new owner through my feature in Astronomy Now. The new owner had kept a yacht in Plymouth for many years and immediately recognised Smeaton's Tower as a familiar sight welcoming sailors back towards the city.
Today the painting hangs beside the family's front door, becoming one of the first things they see as they leave home and one of the first things they see when they return.
To continue the sailing and Astronomy connection, we left Plymouth in Spring 1997 to move the yacht to the Solent. Our children were very young at the time so we decided to anchor for the night off Swanage, where comet Hale-Bopp, which was very bright at the time, led us into an anchorage in the middle of the bay.
