The latest in my series of brightly coloured flower paintings, this one is called 'Pink Flowers in Parrot Jug'. The parrot of the title is the handle of the Jug, which unfortunately can't be seen in the painting!

I was thinking about the film 'Bonnie and Clyde' with Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty while I was painting this. The line from the film that always stands out for me is when she says to him 'Baby I got the blues so bad...' It has the feeling of somebody at rock bottom and in total despair. I thought I'd name this painting after that line so it's called 'The Blues'. Painting all day on my own can result in some strange trains of thought at times! This painting is in oil on board and it's 8 x 8 inches.

Asters in 1930s Jug

I've been doing lots of dog portraits lately and for a while didn't seem to have much time to paint the floral still lives that I enjoy doing so much. However, I've decided I've got to MAKE time so started getting up earlier to work on a small painting for a couple of hours a day. This is one that I thought turned out well - the colours and the jug give it a vintage feel I think.

White Freesias

I wanted to keep this one simple and neutral. It was a tricky painting to do though, as for some reason the flowers started to wilt on the second day! Painting flowers never seems to get any easier!

'Roses and Parrot Lilys on Windowsill' oil on board 10 x 8 inches. As I said before, I live on a narrowboat and unfortunately they don't have windowsills. I really love paintings of objects on windowsills and views through windows so I was missing very much having one to use in my paintings. So my lovely partner Dale made me one specially for my studio area. This is the first painting I've done featuring my new windowsill.

Lilys and Plums

I had a few problems with this painting - it's funny how some paintings seem straightforward and others are such a struggle! The lilys took all week to come out and I'd finished painting them by then! Also we moved our boat in the middle of me painting this so the light direction changed completely. Never mind - I don't think it came out too badly.

Garden Flowers and Pear

The above photos show the progress of my recent painting 'Garden Flowers and Pear' from the set up to the finished work. I took a different perspective with this one and painted it standing up and looking down which I think gives a more dynamic result. I do like to be comfortable when I'm painting though so I prefer sitting down really - I'm just so lazy!

Carnations and Wildflowers

Here's the set up and finished result for my recent painting 'Carnations and Wildflowers in a Tankard'. I bought these carnations from the supermarket. I do like carnations but I don't think they're really considered a 'cool' flower! So I thought I make the whole thing a bit cooler by adding some stuff from the boatyard where I live. I picked some branches from a blackberry bush and some leaves and a bit of buddleia. Then I placed the flowers and leaves in a silver plated tankard I bought from a vintage fair. I used a pretty embroidered cloth which I think I bought from the same fair. The shell is from my small collection of shells which I plan to add to! I love the different shapes of shells and this is one of my favourites so I often include it in still life set ups.