Time for bed by sarah spencer

sarah spencer

Time for bed, 2024

Mixed Media

135 x 200 cm (53.15 x 78.74 in)

Time for Bed draws on a Welsh lake myth in which a mysterious woman emerges from the water and agrees to marry a farmer on the condition that he never strikes her. The painting places this fragile promise within a woodland pool at dusk. A pale, almost spectral figure moves between land and water, suspended in a moment that feels both intimate and uncertain.

The surrounding landscape—dense trees, dark water, and a sloping bank—feels unstable and emotionally charged. Striations of charcoal, oil bar and acrylic create a restless surface where the forest appears to dissolve into reflection and shadow. The water is deep red and black, echoing both the depth of the lake and the tension within the myth itself.

Balancing tenderness and unease, the work explores themes of trust, vulnerability and the fragile boundary between the human and the otherworldly. The figure hovers between worlds: the domestic promise of “bed” and the ancient pull of the water from which she came.