Huka Falls Walls

Resin and mixed media on board · 76 x 58cm · framed

Rachel has long been fascinated by the structure and texture of cliffs. It runs through her paintings of the coves near her home in Cornwall, where the rock has been shaped over thousands of years by the sea. Most visitors are captivated by the water, but Rachel was just as drawn to the cliff walls of the gorge. Pounded and carved by the river for thousands of years, they've been worn into extraordinary shapes, and their colours and forms seem to keep changing, sculpted by a waterfall that has been flowing for longer than anyone can remember.

This painting is a close-up of those walls. Deep forest green and black sweep across the top, broken by bursts of white like spray hitting stone. On the left, layers of grey, sage and pale lemon swirl around a glowing ring of yellow, like a hollow worn into the rock. A dark ledge runs across the middle, and beneath it, on the right, a wide slab of soft blush pink stretches out, flecked with green like moss clinging to the surface. Here and there, a sparkle catches the light, and a small pool of deep violet-blue glints in the lower corner like a mineral seam.

As with all of Rachel's resin work, it looks free and fluid but was carefully planned. Resin gives her just four minutes before it sets as hard as rock, so every colour and every pour had to be decided in advance. It's a fitting technique for a painting about stone shaped by flowing water.

Moody and unexpected, with its mix of dark greens and soft pinks, it's a painting that rewards a close look. For collectors who love Rachel's Cornish cove paintings, it makes a fascinating companion piece. Framed and ready to hang, it would suit a study, a dining room, or a bedroom.