Self portraits have a long tradition in art history. It's not something I tackle very often but at the beginning of the year I was challenged to paint a self portrait and this new work is the result. In my practise I'm exploring what a portrait really is. Is it a faithful reproduction of a particular face, or a representation of their personality or celebrating what they’ve achieved, or a delicate balance of all three?

This painting is my answer to that question. Despite the fact that you can't see the face of the main figure hidden behind the phone you get an immediate sense of who they are. The reflections of the night scene the train is travelling through bring an abstract quality to the composition. The other figures remain partially obscured. It’s titled ‘Self Portrait’ but does it fulfil the criteria? As always whatever the intentions of the artist the final decision will be in the mind of the viewer.

Reflections -Self Portrait on a train 60x50cms oil on canvas

Details from ‘Reflections-Self Portrait on a train’