The expressive work of Paul Smulders occupies the middle ground between abstraction and figurative in its response to the natural world.His self-reflective painting technique uses the process of paint- ing itself to capture the essence of nature, through examination of the essential components of landscape and colour. The behaviour of the materials he uses during the creation of his paintings seems to reflect images seen in the natural world; however, the paintings do not intend to give the impression of being a perfect reflection of nature itself. Smulders lets the various materials mix freely and unpredictably, as they do in nature itself. There is certainly a suggestion of representation in his paintings, but that plays out on a level below the surface of the painting. Paul Smulders wants the image to become paint and the paint to become the image. His latest series “Current Whereabouts” continues and deepens his study of the natural world.