The Brides of Salt

Oil on canvas
184 × 134 cm (Work in Progress)

The Brides of Salt is my largest painting to date and an evolving meditation on memory, mercy and belonging. At its heart stands The Keeper of Salt, a guardian figure whose outstretched wing gathers a community of women, each carrying her own story, grief, hope and quiet resilience.

Every bride carries her own landscape, and every landscape carries a memory. Flowing veils become rivers, villages emerge within garments, and gardens bloom as symbols of renewal. Scripture, poetry and personal symbolism are woven throughout the composition, inviting the eye to wander and uncover new narratives with each viewing.

Rather than telling a single story, the painting unfolds as a collection of quiet journeys, where remembrance, faith and imagination converge. As each layer is added, another voice emerges, speaking of shelter, endurance, compassion and hope. It is an invitation to pause, to reflect, and perhaps to recognise something of our own journey within these women, whose stories become both deeply personal and quietly universal.