MAGNOLIAS / 2012 / WATERCOLOUR / US$650. These magnolias, in a cut glass vase, created a simple composition. The bold, almost abstract shapes of the flowers, which bore the marks and scars of time and the first signs of decay, contrasted with the bright green buds which spoke of new life.
POMEGRANTES / 2012 / WATERCOLOUR / US460. Each autumn produces wonderful rich colors in leaves and fruit. Here the browns, oranges and purples of pomegranates contrast with the brighter pinks and yellows of the seeds as one of the pomegranates bursts open. I was fascinated by the abstract shapes between the fruit and the dark background.
PURPLE POPPIES / 2019 / ACRYLIC ON PAPER / 56 X 76 cms / US$2200. Every day as I walked to work, I would see a few beautiful purple poppies in a wasteland of weeds behind some factory buildings—a quiet place people never went. I loved the contrast between the intense purple and the surrounding greens, the strong abstract shapes, the patterns of the stamens and the lines on the petals that led to the wrinkled edges.
PINK ROSES / 2024 / WATERCOLOUR ON PAPER / US$2020. This was my second attempt to capture the beauty of these roses. The first time I used acrylic, this time watercolour. I worked and re-worked areas—this painting probably took a full week of work—to try to capture the complexity of the light passing through the petals and the variegated edges of the petals against the dark background.
PINK ROSES / 2024 / ACRYLIC ON PAPER / US$2400. This painting captures the beauty and awesome complexity of roses and their variation of colours, from almost pure white to soft yellows and pinks. The petals themselves were endlessly fascinating and challenging to express on paper as they unfolded, twisted and shaped themselves around each other.
FROST ON KASHMIRI ROSES / 2024 / ACRYLIC ON PAPER / US$ 2600 In the small garden behind our houseboat in Kashmir, in the far north of India, most of the rose bushes were frostbitten and dead. Except for this one. A wonderful dusting of morning frost covered the last remaining roses of the year. The beautiful fading red roses spoke of the end of the summer while the glittering frost in the early light spoke of the beginning of winter.
PALM FLOWER, HAWAII / 2012 / WATERCOLOUR / US$800. The simple curved shape, grooved surface and deep red color of this single petal of a palm flower seemed to me as beautiful as any sculpture created by humans. In the pool of clear rainwater, the black seeds held the promise of more beautiful palm flowers in the future.