This painting was made during Storm Eunice, which the Met Office described as a once-in-a-lifetime event, with wind speeds recorded at 122 mph. It is one of two works in the exhibition painted during that storm, and remains part of one of the most elemental and defining experiences of my career.

Unlike ‘Once in a Lifetime’, this piece was painted on the beach, on a small piece of stretched linen, close to the incoming tide. The sea was pushing in hard, carrying huge six-foot peaks of foam with bubbles rolling across the beach. Pieces of foam broke away in the wind and flew through the air in great globs, strange and beautiful, as if the storm was shedding parts of itself. I worked quickly with the tide moving towards me, trying to catch the collision of water, stone, wind and froth before the beach became impossible. As the painting neared completion, a large wave carrying foam engulfed the surface. I withdrew, happy to leave the seawater and bubbles to settle into the work and make the final marks themselves.

above: captions from the film created during the experience