Every morning, for about the past year, a fox trots past our bedroom window at 6.20 in the morning.
I am an early riser and I see it as I drink my early morning tea; what is amazing is that even when the clocks changed, it continued its walk up and down, inspecting the hedgerow at the same time.
In order to paint this I had to draw from a stuffed fox from the amazing collection held by Hampshire Museum’s Service. This was lovely to see the texture of the fur and the variety of colours in the coat.
Category: Flora & Fauna
Snowdrops
Every year I promise myself that I will paint the snowdrops in my garden..et Voila!
Oxford Botanic Garden 2022
This large painting has taken several months to finish.
The Oxford Botanic Garden contains a wonderful glasshouse with large leaved waterlilies; the reflections on the water of the complex roof mean that when looking at the plants you are made aware of the abstract elements which link with the figurative plants.
Peonies 2022
This year the peonies were spectacular.
The cold weather was something of a disincentive to sit outside painting, but they were so beautiful, it was worth it.
Sweet Peas
The 2021 abundance of rain produced a marvellous crop of Spencer scented sweet peas.
Sunflower head
from the series of sunflower images, this sunflower had a huge and lovely head…worthy of visual capture.
Hollyhocks and Sunflowers
A marvellous growing period in 2021 due to all the rain produced a glorious crop of flowers against a green shed.
Sunflowers 2020
Having grown many magnificent sunflowers this year, I decided, rather late in the season to record them.
I have saved seed from other blooms so that I can repeat the process next year.
Sarah Raven’s Nasturtiums #2
I painted this subject last year, from seeds for these nasturtiums given to me, and the resultant flowers were so lovely that I saved the seed and planted them again this year.
This version is much larger, so the flowers are three times actual size and therefore more dynamic.
Marley
This is a painting of our gardeners’ dog, Marley, who died last February.
He was so loved by Mike, his owner.
I don’t usually paint dogs, but I enjoyed doing this.
Primroses and grape hyacinths in a blue pot
Early in the lockdown the first spring flowers came out.
I had been having pottery lessons in the Autumn and this small dark blue gleaze pot was one of the smaller results, just right for short stemmed flowers.
Tulips in the garden
Further to the lockdown paintings in the garden, from our patio table we had a view with a variety of tulips in the forgeground to the trees in the distance.
To a certain extent this painting is quite saccharine in content…but the flowers are lovely anyway.
Parrot Tulips
During the 2020 lockdown I have been able to appreciate my garden as never before.
These parrot tulips were just at their best and I painted them all in one day.
Sarah Raven’s Nasturtiums
This small painting was made because I was entranced by the vibrant colour of these flowers and the way that the stems formed a pattern.
Apple Trees, Spring 2019
A local house has these wonderful gnarled trees, which twine together. They have ivy and lichen on the branches and trunk and in April are full of blossom.
Collagraph, Poor Bird
This collagraph is a version of a painting which I made of a lesser spotted woodpecker.
Bere Forest, Bluebells
This painting …4ft x 4ft has been carried out over two years. I had to wait for the season to come round again to complete the background and the bluebells.
Bere Forest , in Hampshire is a wonderful piece of ancient woodland and every year the bluebells are a delight to all the senses.
Yellow Iris
This mixed media print ( collagraph and lino cut ) is a way into making use of the many plant drawings made over the years.
Plant Silhouettes
This gouache painting is based on a shelf of sample flowers from a walled garden in Shropshire.
Stages of a bud
This lino cut is based on a painting which I made showing how a bud matures from tightly furled to fully resolved.
The painting is a lot softer than this graphic image.
Morning Glories and Perennial Peas
In the Summer of 2018, the heat during the day was so great that in order to paint these lovely plants growing in my garden I had to get up at 5.00 a.m. and worked until 9.00 a.m after which the temperature was too much for painting.
Serendipity ensured that these plans grew so well together.
Lilies 2
Every year I grow lilies in my garden. This year I grew some very large ones which reached over five feet tall, due to the 2018 hot Summer. As it was too hot to paint after 9.00 a.m, I had to get up at 5.00 a.m to be able to carry out this painting.
Hollyhocks and Green Shed
Planted in 2017 it has been a long wait to see the glorious results which complement the green of the shed .
Gunnera at The Island, Greatbridge
These magnificent architectural plants grow by one of the tributaries of the River Test which runs through the glorious gardens of The Island, Greatbridge near Romsey, Hampshire
Lichen on Oak Twigs
In the Autumn, the strong winds blow down twigs which are covered with these tendril covered lichens.
Poor Bird 5
While watching the Rio Olympics, a crash against the window was the result of this lovely young thrush with glorious soft plumage and beautiful markings coming to a needless end.
Poor Bird 4
This robin was one of the 2016 brood which did not make it.
Lilies
These are the 2016 lilies in the garden, which link to those painted from previous years. The short window of opportunity between bud, blossom and the dropping of petals is about one week, so there was little room for contemplation, just painting.
Three stages of a sticky bud
This is a painting carried out over several weeks as the sticky bud developed into the final flower
Fungus on birch logs
During the winter, our delivery of logs for the fire developed these wonderful decorations.
Tulipomania
Inspired by the paintings of Ambrosius Boschaert and other 17th c Dutch cabinet painters, I decided to make the most of the tulips in my garden and to combine them into a fantasy painting in the manner of the Dutch.
Bird
The cuckoo also imitates the flight and breast feathers of the Sparrowhawk, here shown.
Poor bird 3
This blue tit lasted out of the nest only a few hours. It failed to make to final flight to the nearby oak tree. Poor lovely bird, now buried under the plum tree.
Poor Bird 2
This is a second painting of the lovely woodpecker with his beautiful plumage.
Poor Bird 1
This lovely woodpecker flew into my studio. I am glad to report that a new one now comes to feed in the garden.
Mares tails
This is part of the series of four which deals with issues of antiquity; mares tails are ancient plant forms which date from the time of the dinosaurs.
Arabella Lennox-Boyd
By contrast, Arabella Lennox-Boyd , a silkscreen print, is a reflection of this garden designer’s use of geometry and formally organised planting.
Carol Klein
The image, Carol Klein, is a lino cut in response to the theme of Energetic Women, the Catalyst theme for 2011, in which I had decided to concentrate upon the female gardener as playing an important role in current and past society.
Hellebores and Solomon’s Seal
This is a straight painting from plants in the garden in early spring
Brussels sprouts
This painting is a straight observational work based on natural patterns
Lilies in the Garden
This is a further extension to the garden series of paintings from 2013 – 2015
Garden Flowers
This commissioned piece was produced for the wedding of Lucy Jessop and Aidan Joyce in 2012
Three Thistles
My neighbour grew these magnificent thistles. Who could resist them?
Autumn flowers
This commissioned work was subsequent to the Three Thistles painting of the previous year
Some things make you ill, some things make you better
This painting is based on information about plants which have curative as well as damaging properties