Paintings exploring stillness, contained energy, and suspended moments.

Watercolour animal painting set within a circular field
Animal Watercolours

These paintings centre on a single animal held within a simple circular field. I remove the landscape and most surrounding detail so the focus stays on one charged pause. A moment of alert stillness. A breath held. The circle becomes a contained space where that presence can exist without distraction.

View original paintings Explore fine art prints
Reduced animal painting focused on silhouette and presence
Reduced Animal Studies

These works move further into simplification. Fewer details. Stronger silhouette. More space. They are not about describing the animal fully, but about holding the tension between calm and potential movement. The aim is clarity and presence rather than decoration.

See the full collection
Abstract painting exploring suspended movement within a circular form
Abstract Works

The abstract pieces explore the same idea without a recognisable form. They focus on energy held in balance, movement paused mid flow, and pressure contained within shape. Where the animal paintings show presence embodied, these works explore that presence distilled.

View abstract work

New Paintings

Stephen Holder artist portrait

Stillness and Contained Presence

I make paintings about stillness and contained energy. My work often centres on a single animal placed within a simple circular field. I remove the landscape and most surrounding detail so the focus stays on one charged moment. A pause. A breath held. The second before movement.

I am drawn to solitary animals because they carry a strong sense of presence. A wolf standing alert, a bird watching, a creature poised in quiet awareness. I am interested in the tension between calm and potential. The circle acts as a boundary, a held space where that presence can exist without distraction.

Alongside the animal paintings, I create abstract works that explore the same idea. These pieces focus on energy without a recognisable form. They feel like movement paused mid flow or pressure held in balance. For me, the figurative and abstract work are connected. One shows presence embodied. The other shows presence distilled.

Over time I have been reducing the work, simplifying shapes and limiting detail. I want each image to feel direct and clear rather than decorative. What matters most is whether the painting holds that quiet intensity.