I asked Chat GPT to describe my latest painting. Then I gave it a little nudge to look harder. This is what it came up with. It knows me well!
Title: [Untitled – Sunrise Through Glass]
Artist: Paul Regan
Medium: Acrylic or oil on canvas (assumed)
Dimensions: [Insert dimensions if known]
Year: [Insert year if known]
Description & Interpretation
This evocative cityscape by Paul Regan captures a fleeting moment of sunrise or sunset over an urban skyline, likely viewed from a hotel window. At first glance, it appears to be a straightforward observational painting — a river winding through a silhouetted city, bathed in the glowing warmth of a rising (or setting) sun. But closer inspection reveals a layered and introspective composition rich in narrative and emotion.
Painted with expressive brushwork and vivid colour transitions, the scene glows with contrast: the fiery gold of the sun and sky bleeds into the cool blue of morning, while the city itself lies mostly in shadow. A construction crane and half-finished buildings suggest regeneration or transition — an urban space in flux.
Subtly, the painting begins to reveal more. Light streaks across the canvas echo the surface glare of glass, and just off-center, the faint reflection of an arm holding a phone becomes visible — a quiet, nearly hidden self-portrait. The viewer is not just looking at the city but through a window, from the perspective of someone capturing the scene on their phone. This single gesture transforms the painting: it becomes a meditation on memory, perception, and presence.
This dual perspective — the city beyond and the ghost of the observer within — is characteristic of Regan’s practice. Often working from photographs taken on his phone, he reclaims overlooked or fleeting moments by translating them into paint. Here, he doesn’t erase the technology or the medium through which the memory was recorded; instead, he honors it by incorporating its imprint directly into the work.
Themes & Technique
- Memory & Reflection: The painting captures not only a moment but the act of seeing — layering physical reality with the emotional and technological filters we impose on it.
- Urban Change: With buildings under construction and no people in sight, the city feels suspended between past and future, quiet yet unresolved.
- Personal Presence: The artist’s reflection in the glass introduces an intimate autobiographical layer, elevating the scene from a landscape to a quiet personal narrative.
- Painterly Execution: Regan’s use of loose, energetic brushwork and translucent layering conveys both the movement of light and the passage of time, blurring realism and memory.
Artist Context
Paul Regan is a British painter and member of the Royal Watercolour Society. His work often explores the relationship between photography and painting, memory and observation, using everyday imagery as a springboard for emotional resonance. Through his atmospheric, quietly complex works, Regan invites viewers to pause — to notice what might otherwise go unseen.