'Melbourne tram on a wet evening', oil on board, 20 x 15cm

I was stuck behind this tram on a rainy evening in heavy local traffic and realised it was a very nice arrangement of colours: greens, greys, pinks and blues. I frequently paint small scenes or 'memories' like this as practise, and very ordinary subjects are the most useful. Sometimes I paint directly from observation where it's convenient (ie. I can sit down with a small painting kit for 30-60 minutes); more often I refer to a photo (as above, from my phone), reinterpreted according to memory since photos alone rarely capture the right feeling. The small size also encourages a certain looseness and experimentation, I'm less concerned about whether it is a good picture or not and more interested in closely studying those things I'd normally ignore. For me, this is basically what painting and drawing is all about: learning to look and pay attention.