Heatwave (Gold Coast)

Heatwave (Gold Coast)  is the latest limited edition print by Mitchell English.

This work captures the heightened stillness and intensity of a hot summer’s day — when time slows, shadows stretch, and the beach becomes a shared ritual of rest, movement and waiting.

Figures lie prone on towels, gather beneath umbrellas, lift boards, and drift across a pale, sun-bleached ground. The composition feels both expansive and intimate, as if viewed from above, compressing dozens of private moments into a single, quietly buzzing scene. There is heat here — not dramatic, but persistent — carried through long shadows, warm skin tones and the glare of reflected light.

The blue background acts as both atmosphere and structure, cooling and balancing the warmth of sun-lit skin, zinc whites, reds and citrus tones. Umbrellas act as anchors, surfboards as directional lines, while the repetition of figures creates a subtle choreography across the surface.

This work reflects Mitchell English’s ongoing exploration of the Australian beach as a social landscape — not just a place of escape, but one of shared patterns, habits and unspoken rules. Heatwave, Gold Coast feels familiar, lived-in, and unmistakably Australian.

The original Heatwave (Gold Coast) is available for collection from Collecté, St Bartsnew gallery and design store on the Gold Coast.