Oil on canvas, 80 × 60 cm, 2026

Ginger Baby captures a quiet moment of tenderness, care, and affection. Wrapped carefully in deep green velvet, the cat becomes the centre of an intimate exchange. Two redheads, one human and one feline, meet each other’s gaze and share a simple, deeply felt connection.

With this painting, I set myself several ambitious challenges: to create complex lighting with strong contrasts, sharp edges, reflections, and an active interplay of light and shadow; to build a dark, weighty background reminiscent of Rembrandt; to structure the composition around two opposing key colours; and to explore a range of textures.

I am especially pleased with how many of these elements came together, particularly given how much the work evolved during the process. I’m most proud of the hand and everything coming together in that space - shadows, cat’s face and the hand. Composition is looking good too. The sense of discovery and change became part of the painting itself. At the same time, there are aspects I remain less satisfied with — some passages feel overly tight, and perhaps too many stylistic languages meet within a single image.

Here is some Facebook feedback I’ve been given about Ginger Baby.