A recently completed 40x40cm canvas.  Although it is a little bit ‘minimal’ it passes my test for a worthwhile painting because of the variety of the mark making techniques which enliven the surface.  The foreground tree is painted in acrylic ink with a stick, the houses with two compressed charcoal pencils, as is the field/road boundary. The field itself is articulated with fine acrylic markers and the remainder is layered acrylic paint.  Its no wonder that, when painting in the studio or in the landscape, I am hemmed in by a vast array of tools and materials, and yes, sometimes they are mislaid and I have to improvise in order to continue painting.  This means I may be pushed outside of my comfort zone.  But that is the time when some of the best results are achieved and also when I discover new methods of painting which extend my vocabulary and increase my expressive ability in subsequent paintings.