Want to know more about how some of my paintings came about? Read on...

November 2023

The Florals started as a fascination with hydrangeas, particularly some new ones I had managed to keep safe from deer, which finally matured in autumn 2022. They turned from porcelain perfect white to a complex green and burgundy mixture and I took the photos to a three day residential art course in December. I was looking for a more personal approach than just "pretty flowers". Why did they speak to me?

The obvious thing in midlife is that I do sometimes feel mature in a good way and sometimes not so good! The fabulous deep colour resonated with me but also the shrivelled up brown bits! I did lots of development work with the hydrangeas but then, as spring arrived, I was distracted by these fabulous deep red tulips. I also went to the Cezanne exhibition at Tate Modern, where a number of still lifes involved him outlining in blue and, in the tradition of "stealing like an artist", I enjoyed combining this with the structured shape of the tulips.

There's something about outlining which says "I really mean it" so this series is called "Tulip like you mean it" They are 20cm square and come framed in black for £250 each.

The seasons moved on and I anxiously anticipated peonies. The ones in my garden, although an amazing colour, would only be available for a week or so in June and I only had a few photos from last year. So I warmed up by trawling Instagram, buying a bunch from the shops and taking photos if I came across any elsewhere. Over 500 photos later, I still love them and I think they come closest to being "self portraits". There's something about the tight buds, full of promise, the showy blooms that all arrive at once and the dishevelled state of the petals as they go over that really describes my rollercoaster of emotions as I navigate peri-menopause - sometimes in the space of five minutes!

For a long time I've wanted to push past a boringly realistic palette in my work and the flowers, leaves and other background really lend themselves to this. The palette is made up of colours I wear regularly, so this also makes them feel more like a self portrait.

Each of the Floral paintings are on 60cm square, deep edged canvas and come framed in black for £610 each. You can view them all here. And if you want more explanation of the titles, you'll need to come to a class and ask me :)

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November 2022

At the beginning of 2022, when I was dragging myself out of the last of the lockdown treacle and finding my way back to painting after nearly two years break, I needed to measure how "well" I was painting. I found this in a very realistic colour palette and real views that you could actually pinpoint on a map (of Mull) and they formed this series called "Island Breezes" numbered 1-6. They are all around the same spot on the hill above Ulva Ferry - some facing up to Dun More, some out to Ulva, and others more focussed on the tussocks and flowers under my feet. They are all 30cm square, acrylic on stretched canvas, available for £150 each and unframed as the painting continues around the deep canvas edge on all of my paintings.

I have also added these images to my new business cards - pick one up if you're passing!

I'll never tire of those views, but I did want to explore outside the paint-what-I-see box and in the next series, I took the real places and started to heighten some elements of colour, and emphasise the feeling of "being there" using foreground foliage.

Below, clockwise from top left we have Big Burn (that's B-u-r-n!); Pennyghael; Gribun and Ben Na Drise, which are all 40cm x 30cm, acrylic on canvas, available for £200 each, unframed.

I still wasn't sure I was conveying what it feels like to stand out in the wind with the grasses and wildflowers swirling around or how it feels when you round the corner and see a view for the first time (or perhaps for the 51st time after a long absence).

I captured a small part of it when I was painting live for the first time after lockdown in July 2021. The first one I didn't finish on the day, but the second I called "Lifted" as it really described how that event rejuvenated my painting spirit and the result suited the title perfectly. It's not a real place but painted purely in remembrance of all those other scenes. It is 75cm x 50cm, acrylic on canvas and £595 (if I can bear to part with it at all!)

The one I didn't finish on the day, I later revisited and without any specific intention, created the first "Faerie Glen". It took another six months for the other two to emerge but these are probably my favourites of the moment. They are quite small panoramas - 50cm x 20cm and as I loved them so much, they were picked to be framed, so they are up for £250 each, in simple white tray frames with a small gap around the edge so you can see the painted edge. Below are Faerie Glen 1, 2 and 3: Because I am keen to recycle and reuse my canvases, and I half-use a lot of 30cm square ones for workshops, I had a lot of these in boxes waiting to be given new life, so I made a concerted attempt to work in series, which I did manage... just. It is so interesting how I can do several playful interpretations in a row and then a very specific scene emerges on the next canvas. I then have to ferret about in my photo archive to decide if I want to stick with that real place and whether to adapt it to what I think I saw.

Below, clockwise from top left: Refreshed, Invigorated, Peachy and Blooming, each 30cm square, £150 unframed.

Then two larger canvases 60cm square wanted a piece of the action so they became "In the Pink" and "Mauve Mood" which would make a great pair if you've got a big enough space and deep enough pockets at £595 each. Last but not least, my "headliner". I've called it "The Inlet" and it came out of the middle of the series of smaller works featuring real places. It depicts the edge of the water below Dervaig village. The loch there, which is a tidal inlet, doesn't have a name on the map (Muileachs will put me right no doubt!). I've reworked it since the Faerie Glen series to accentuate the flowers and seaweed colours and the light really does loom over the hill like that. I'm always hoping to see an otter there but no luck yet! It's the biggest canvas I can fit in my box room studio 100cm x 76cm £950 unframed.