Shadows on the Water -- Pulau Besar, Mersing

Shadows on the Water -- Pulau Besar, Mering

As a painter, my eyes and mind have been "programmed" to see the world and everything in it as compositions on canvas. It comes naturally to me to imagine the scene before me as a painting -- how it is cropped, how it colours, how it shapes.

Early last year, before the tourist season set in, I found myself on Pulau Besar, Mersing, very much alone. Walking along the long stretch of beach, I felt like a castaway on an island. At one point, having walked for some time, I turned around to face the journey I had made. I immediately saw the scene before me on canvas.

It was an interesting composition of long shadows of trees being cast from the right, onto the beach, the wet sands, on the frothy lips of the waves, and onto the rolling sea coming ashore.

The reflection of the blue sky on the water created a contrast between the shadow and light, creating space and depth.

It was a very quiet and silent composition with only the sounds of the waves breaking the serenity.

Back at my studio, the scene was captured on a canvas measuring 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 feet. It was a challenge to capture the different levels of light and shadow on a single composition. I wanted to contrast the coolness of the shade with the late morning brightness, while showing the depth of that stretch of beach.

Now, this piece, "Shadows on the Water -- Pulau Besar, Mersing," is available for sale at Artcase Gallery, Great Eastern Mall, Jalan Ampang.