Whilst reading, researching and thinking about the exercises that I have recently completed I made some comparisons with my work to the suggested artists. Firstly Mary Heilmann, whose work looks fairly simple on first look but on close observation reveals perspective, line and colour. An example of this is her ‘Cup drawing, 1983’ where the object has been shown flat against a white background and reduced to seven coloured lines using oil on ceramic. The raised aspect of the ceramic creates a shadow around the lines which gives a slight indication of depth.

A second example ‘Maricopa Highway, 2014’, below, is deceptively simple. The broken straight line of the of the road marking forces the eye up to the horizon line. A dusky sky is portrayed by a dark blue wash where elements of light creep through. The dark blue has been echoed through from the road and the lighter blue from the road markings. The composition is further skewed by being set on two offset canvases.

I make comparisons between these two paintings and some aspects of my recent work. The ‘Cup drawing’ is conceptually similar to the wire maquette of a ukulele that I fashioned. ‘Maricopa Highway’ uses concepts and ideas that I explored in the blocks of coloured paper and playing with space and perspective. My works are obviously much less sophisticated.

• Part 2 - Contenporary approaches to still life