Gallerina Spring Show

I am inspired by the idea of the immersive Roman garden, many Roman households housed paintings that developed on the notion of the Roman garden within a domestic home. Walls were adorned with surprising frescos of flora and fauna in many varying seasonal phases to become lasting places of joy. Truly bringing the feeling of celebrating life and nature within an interior, bringing the outside in. The rooms of many of the Roman Empire garden paintings, particularly including the 'Villa Livia'; are renowned for their accurate depiction of plant species with an illusionistic quality of perfect order. The atmospheric vista seems to reach way beyond - hence 'Semper Hortus', the 'forever garden'. Painting directly from my own garden, lemon and orange trees silhouette amongst olive trees, grape vines, figs and hydrangea - illuminated by heavenly blue skies.

198 w x 122 h (Framed 238 w x 161 h cm) Oil, mixed media and gesso on board in an English George III frame originally housing a portrait by George Romney RCA.

From the series "Seville Triptych" 'Cochineal Red Wisteria'. 'Jasminum officinale L. (Common Jasmine) and 'Wisteria sinensis Sweet' (Chinese wisteria) intertwine in large abundance over the external deep Cochineal red walls in the Jewish Quarter outside the Alcázar. Your senses are overwhellmed with the scent of the wisteria, striking clusters of butterfly shaped lilac flowers which give off an intoxicating aroma. They cover the gallery of the Garden of Galera in the Real Alcázar - in winter letting light and heat in and in summer sifting the intense light by forming this beautiful natural lattice of abundant leaves. In the background the sound of sparkling waters from a nearby marble fountain with tiered cascades is being visted by a graceful white dove.

Jasmine is often considered the flower of Paradise, or the symbol of divine love. Since the jasmine flowers precisely in May, the month dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the flower is associated with her image. It is also highly valued in Islamic culture, we know from a fragment of an ancient Arabic poem that King al-Mutamid loved the scent of jasmine, and would have filled his gardens with the wonderful plant the during his dynasty in Seville between 1040-1095.

Cochineal red pigment extracted from the tiny bettle which lives on the Prickily Pear plant, was one of the colours the Spanish tresure fleets brought in peak quanity from the Americas during the 16th and 17th Centuries. Only the ports at Seville and Cadiz were permitted to import the pigment. The wonderous deep scarlet colour was used in profusion, in the 16th Century textiles were dyed in the brightest and most saturated red dyers had ever seen, followed by use within the European painters palette as seen within Baroque paintings from the beginning of the 17th Century.

Mixed media on canvas in handmade frame 183 cm h x 85 cm unframed 202 cm h x 100 cm w m 4.5 cm d

Part of the "Seville Triptych" Casa De Los Pinelo is a 16th Century Renaissance period house in the centre of Seville. The central courtyard is designed in a traditional layout which has been used since Roman times, creating a cool and tranquil space which houses a collection of 'Citrus Aurantium L.' or the Bitter (Seville) Orange.
Small oranges are scattered across the unswept floor, with scented fallen blossoms and leaves. The fruit is associated with paradise in many cultures, in Greek and Roman myth Hercules stole the 'golden' fruit from the Garden of the Hesperides. The distinctive presence of the orange trees in Southern Europe is linked with the arrival of the Arabs who introduced them for ornamental value, and specifically for the heady scent of their flower, the orange blossom. Muslim kings of al-Andalus composed their courtyards with orange trees in all four corners, so when passing by on the first floor open terraces they could reach to harvest the fruits and inhale the sweet scent of the blossoms.

This series of paintings are a lot about light, and sun and shadows - creating a kind of magic in a contemplative space making you observe with a different state of mind. Jasmine and the spectacular and strange large leaves of 'Monstera deliciosa Liebm.' or Monstera deliciosa climb the crumbling white washed walls. The foliage and walls inadvertently make your eyes raise upwards towards the skies. Visiting inward facing palaces and gardens in Seville, give the feeling of being in a sacred space, where the sky is framed by these wild botanical walls. The light is beautifully coming inside, it's changing all the time as the sun acts as a sundial, the brightness shards of light illuminating alongside softened dappled cooling surfaces.

Mixed media on canvas in handmade frame 183 cm h x 85 cm unframed 202 cm h x 100 cm w m 4.5 cm d

Sagrada Familia is inspired by my recent visit to Seville during "Semana Santa" or Holy Week: the soul, the passion and the energy of the city; the atmosphere manifested from the deeply ingrained spiritual culture of worship; the timeless beauty that is an amalgamation of the most noble and magnificent elements from Roman to Renaissance.

The paired back nature of this work harks towards the resplendent chiaroscuro and luminous qualities of the work of one of Seville's lustrous artists - Baroque painter 'Murillo' who captured the soul and life of the place and the people. Magnolia flowers and papaver poppies cascade from the Heavens.

Oil, raw pigment and gesso on board in antique frame 68 cm w x 110 cm h unframed 114 cm w x 136 cm h x 8.5 cm d framed

A study from my garden — foxgloves, cosmos, and lilies — caught in a rush of wind and weather. Painted in that suspended breath before the rain, when everything trembles on the edge of change.

This work celebrates fleeting moments — the beauty that exists only for an instant before it’s gone. Petals, light, and air dissolving together, held briefly in paint and memory.

46cm x 61cm Oil and mixed media on canvas

Still life inspired by the use of fresco in the Roman Villa. Creating spaces and places within living spaces, the Romans adorned their walls with depictions of everyday food and wine; precious vessels and objects from daily-life; self-portraits alongside images of the Gods and Godesses they worshiped. The heavy impasto surface of the painting here has a chalky ceramic-like quality. A small glass blue-green silica wine jug poised alongside a perfect leafy lemon. The lemon was a prized fruit in ancient Rome, it symbolised the status of the home. The Romans worshiped Bacchus the God of wine and all of his unrestrained revelry, ecstasy and creativity.

46 w x 34 h cm (Framed 65 w x 53 h cm) Oil , mixed media and gesso in antique frame

Study for "Sagrada Familia" capturing the energy of growth.

Oil, Indian ink and mixed media on antique Japanese parchment paper 79 x 79 cm

Study for "Sagrada Familia" capturing the chiarascuro quaity of blooms in the shadows.

Oil, Indian ink and mixed media on antique Japanese parchment paper 79 x 79 cm

58 w x 42.5 h cm (Framed 75 w x 59.5 h cm)

Oil, mixed media and gesso on board in antique French Composition Bourbon Restoration Scotia Frame c.1850

A rare blue Meconopsis — the Himalayan poppy — discovered at Newby Hall Gardens. Its impossible, celestial blue felt like something glimpsed rather than found, fleeting yet eternal. I painted to celebrate its rarity — a moment of pure wonder held delicately in pigment and breath.

This work captures the essence of transience: the bloom that appears only once in a lifetime, suspended between fragility and brilliance.

66cm x 90cm unframed Oil and mixed media on paper

Drawn to the elusive Meconopsis — the rare blue poppy of the Himalayas — this work traces my memory of its shimmering presence. Found at Newby Hall Gardens, its extraordinary hue seemed almost imagined: a bloom that exists between worlds, dissolving into air and shadow.

Through fluid washes and gestural marks, I sought to capture that sense of searching — for something so fragile it might vanish as you behold it. A meditation on rarity, beauty, and the pursuit of the unattainable.

66cm x 90cm unframed Oil and mixed media on paper

A small ceramic greek jar takes the stage within the garden still-life. The pewter plate is filled with black grapes and the branches of a purple Cherry tree laden with fruit drape across the ground of the painting. The Romans were known to depict Greek artifacts and reproduction of Greek fresco within their own frescos. Imbued with symbolism and illuminated with bright light.

60 w x 45 h cm (Framed 86.5 w x 71.5 h cm) Oil, mixed media and gesso on board in Italian antique frame.

The pale faces of spring, the feeling of rebirth. Magnolia and papaver poppies unfurl to reveal their delicate luminous and architectural petals.

Selene is the Greek Goddess of the Moon. In Greek mythology she can be found depicted in scenes with her beloved - Endymion, the shepherd - a beautiful man who is granted eternal youth and eternal sleep with sleep-inducing poppies. The myth of Selene and Endymion is one of fulfillment through unending sleep and yet Selene gives allusions to the changeless cycle of nature.

Soluble Aquarelle pencil and Artgraf pastel on Fabriano paper 69 cm h x 49 cm w unframed 85 cm h x 65 cm w framed

The great Frejús earthenware ceramic jar, its surface encrusted with pale yellow to ochre lichens like the rooftops of St Ives. It emerges into light from the shadows. 'Shoji' (not only relating to the art of Shoji Hamada) but meaning 'screen', it is the sliding paper partition screen. In his book on aesthetics, In Praise of Shadows Jun'ichiro Tanizaki comments oil the role of Shoji in the interaction of light and shadows and the power of their tones reflecting on subtle nuances of life. The importance of mindfulness and noticing the small things.

79 x 98 cm ( Framed 99 x 118 cm)

Oil, raw pigment, graphite and gesso on board in antique frame.

'Irori' is the sunken hearth in Japan used to heat the home and cook food. I imagine steam and smoke, this sacred space of fire. Here the Frejús jar (earthenware pottery) is almost invisible, forming in the bright light like smoke signals from the stove.

76 x 97.5 cm ( Framed 96 x 118 cm)

Oil, raw pigment, graphite and gesso on board in antique frame.

The House of the Golden Bracelet in Pompeii holds one of the most enchantingly beautiful garden frescos. It's terraces are pre-Roman and mytholigical frescos depict abundant views of gardens and reproductions of original Greek works of the 4th Century. I imagine the place to feel timeless, a marriage of myth and nature. A mysterious and immersive garden, silouettes and shapes surrounding the viewer.

163.5 w x 78 h cm (Framed 186 w x 100 h cm) Oil, mixed media and gesso on board in antique frame.

Cera meaning 'wax' in latin.

The wax surfaced medieval Spanish huge scale offering bowl tells a tale. It has been overpainted, stapled and re-waxed and glazed throughout its lifetime. Rumour has it that whenever there was an illness within the monastery, because the bowl was so revered and such an essential part of every day (being the main bowl on the communal table), it was thrown into the nearby river until washed clean by the currents - each time rescued and mended and brought back into the monastic space.

Cera is full of changing light, of history and energy.

76 w x 66 h cm (Framed size 96 w x 85 h cm)

Oil, raw pigment and encaustic wax on board in antique frame from The Palace of Versailles.

My friends have found leafy lemons for me this Summer. They call out in their celebration of warmer climes. They are, heat, sun, happiness and joy! In my simple medieval pewter bowl in this contemplative space they feel emblematic.

61.5 w x 41.5 h cm (Framed size 75 w x 63 h cm)

Raw pigment, oil paint and encaustic wax on board in antique frame.