There’s a particular kind of energy in Australian artist Prue Frost’s studio. It’s the kind that pulses beneath layers of acrylic and oil stick, where colour meets movement and nothing feels quite finished. Because, as Prue would say, the painting is still moving. Her intuitive abstract paintings capture the feeling of things rather than their literal form. Her layered canvases breathe with the restlessness of nature itself.
We sat down with Prue to discover how she transformed sketches and daydreams into a full-time artistic practice, and why sometimes the most profound work emerges from the decision to paint over something you thought was done.
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Prue’s journey to becoming an artist wasn’t a sudden calling.
“I’m an Australian artist working primarily with acrylic paint and oil stick on canvas,” says Prue. “My creative journey has been a gradual one rather than something I always knew I would pursue.
“I’ve always spent a lot of time observing my surroundings, drawn to movement, texture and the small details of the natural world. For years, these observations lived in sketches and words.
Painting became a more serious part of my life when I started giving myself permission to make work without needing to know exactly where it was going.
“Painting stopped feeling like something I was simply experimenting with and became a way of thinking and processing. A place where I could explore ideas, emotions and experiences without having to articulate them literally.
“That freedom is still a big part of why I paint.”
Prue’s artistic practice sits in the territory between intuition and intention.
“My work is very expressive and I’d say it sits somewhere close to abstraction,” she explains. “My visual subject is flowers, foliage, atmosphere and movement. But I’m less interested in representing them literally than capturing something of their energy or how they represent a feeling.
“My intuitive abstract paintings tend to reveal themselves slowly, built through layered marks and thoughtful erasure. I work with acrylic and oil stick to build texture, movement and depth.
“I paint over a lot, and enjoy the balance between complexity and restraint. The way I paint is very instinctive. I want the work to feel alive, as though it’s still moving or changing.
“For me, my style has come from doing the work over and over again versus trying to define it from the outset.
“There’s definitely no typical day, which I quite like. Some days are very physical and instinctive. I may paint manically for hours on end, trying to resolve something.
“Other days are much quieter and involve looking, thinking and deciding what needs to change. I always have several works in progress at once. I like being able to move between paintings depending on what each one needs.”
Nature is the through-line in everything Prue creates.
“Nature is probably my greatest source of inspiration,” she says. “Particularly the movement, the light and the seasons. It’s constantly changing and I’m drawn to that restlessness.
Flowers are beautiful partly because they are fleeting, and I’m fascinated by that sense of impermanence.
“I also find inspiration in atmosphere, colour, interiors, light and everyday observations. More recently, a lot of my work has become about the less tangible spaces between things. Distance, longing, connection, uncertainty and the feeling of being on the edge of understanding something.
“I love looking around and am always noticing something new. So inspiration can come from something as simple as the way light falls or the particular colours and textures in a garden.”
Prue rarely begins one of her intuitive abstract paintings with a resolved image in mind.
“It always begins with a feeling, a colour palette, a loose idea if I’m lucky,” Prue says.
“My creative process has moved more towards starting the work rather than waiting for inspiration. Something always comes up if you just get going.
“I’ll often paint over large sections of the work, rework forms or completely change the direction of a composition. I’ve become much more comfortable with that uncertainty over time. There are some great life lessons to be found in the creative process which I relish.
“Returning to something and pushing it further is central to my practice now. I’m more interested in transformation rather than simply creating something new. The layers and remnants of earlier decisions give the finished work a sense of depth.
I’m also interested in the idea that a painting can hold something that isn’t immediately obvious. You can live with it and continue to discover things in it over time.
“I think one of the things I’ve come to appreciate most about painting is that it doesn’t have to explain itself completely.
“There can be something incredibly powerful about living with a piece of art that makes you feel something. That’s what I hope my paintings can do, create a feeling in the home.”
Thank you to Prue for sharing her intuitive abstract paintings with us. To discover more of her work, visit her website or connect with her on Instagram.
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