GALLERY.
HELLEBORE
Hellebores are wonderful spring flowers, but have flower heads that hang down. When you lift up their heads they are truly lovely. The mature leaves are quite large, so I decided to just draw one in the background so that it wouldn’t dominate the picture.
ONIONS
The papery skin on onions is beautiful. These were from my organic veg box and so the roots were still in tact.
CARROTS
Part of the RHS exhibition
These carrots came in my organic veg box and so still had all their tiny little hairy roots. Lovely to paint - and eat!
PURPLE TURNIP
Part of the RHS exhibition
Painting this turnip from three different angles made me appreciate the colour and the beautiful, intricate details.
ANEMONE BLANDA
The way the flower stems waved and wiggled about was fascinating.
BEETROOT
Part of the RHS exhibition
I enjoyed painting the contrast between the solid form and the tiny delicate roots.
CROCUS
The bulb and roots were lovely to paint – the detail was gorgeous to do. However, the flower was a nightmare! As soon as I brought the plant inside, the flower burst open and flopped. I had to resort to gently tying it together with cotton thread!
DOCK LEAF
I loved painting this leaf. I love painting leaves anyway, but when I’m out dog walking I’m always fascinated by the changing colours in dock leaves and how they are nibbled by insects, creating lovely patterns.
GRAPEVINE
This was a commission from a friend who owns a local vineyard. She wanted the painting to show the development of the vine and grapes through the year. I had never painted a vine before, but had always thought they looked beautiful. Fortunately my friend and her husband were thrilled with the painting – phew!
HOLLY AND IVY
This was one of my first paintings and one year I used it as my Christmas card.
JAPANESE ANEMONE
These flowers are lovely,
light and airy. Absolutely gorgeous.
MEADOW FLOWERS
When I’m out walking in the countryside it’s great to see the wild flowers, especially after a long winter. I wanted these two paintings to look like pages from a sketch book.
PANSIES AND BUTTERFLY
Two of my loves – pansies and butterflies – lovely!
PARSNIP
Part of the RHS exhibition
When I was painting root vegetables for the RHS exhibition a friend appeared on my doorstep brandishing a bunch of parsnips that she’d dug for me from a “pick your own farm”. So kind of her and a lovely surprise.
PEONIES
I painted these peonies for a dear friend’s 80th birthday. Her garden is full of different peonies and is quite stunning.
PRIMULA
I enjoyed getting a 3D effect on this plant and finding these lovely roots once I’d washed off the dirt was a treat.
RADISHES
Part of the RHS exhibition
The tops of the radishes look as if they have neckerchiefs, but have a look – they really are like that!
ROSE
This was painted in memory of my neighbour’s lovely 13 month old daughter, Ruby, who died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2007. It was found she was suffering from a condition called Vein of Galen. The painting was sold at auction in aid of The Paediatric Neuro Intervention Fund. Click here For more information
SALSIFY
Part of the RHS exhibition
This was great fun to paint. I bought it from a farmers market and so it still had all these lovely roots. It looks as if it’s dancing – waving all those wonderful roots about!
SNOWDROPS ON A BANK
This painting was very involved and took ages to do, but I loved it. I dug up snowdrops from my garden and collected loads of dead leaves, bracken, ivy and acorns to build up the picture to match the sketches of a bank of snowdrops I had seen while I was out walking. Needless to say, I replanted the snowdrops!
SWEDE
Part of the RHS exhibition
Painting all the little holes and hairs on this swede was fun. When you really look at a swede you’ll be amazed by the colours. This painting is in Dr. Shirley Sherwood’s collection and was part of the “Hidden Treasures” exhibition held in the Sherwood Gallery in Kew Gardens, London
TULIP BULBS
Bulbs are amazing. These have lovely papery skins with a creamy, firm centre and then they produce beautiful flowers – fantastic.
TULIP, FREESIA
Tulips, freesias, forsythia and sword fern. Lovely bunch of spring flowers.
GOLDEN TURNIPS
I bought these turnips from a farmers market. The details were gorgeous to paint. I think they look so cheerful.