The irises growing in our garden fascinated me because of their extraordinary colour. So deeply saturated, they seemed to exist on the very edge of the natural world, their petals appearing almost black. It was this ambiguity that first drew me to paint them. As I worked, I became increasingly aware that their sculptural forms could be read in different ways; flowers gave way to what feels like birds, doves and other imagined creatures, as the imagination began to complete what the eye could no longer fully perceive. The painting draws upon the long tradition of the nocturne, not through the depiction of night itself, but through its quiet evocation of mystery, where diminishing light softens certainty and observation gives way to memory and imagination.

Mixed media on canvas. 76 w x 61 h cm (Framed in simple antique gold frame 80 w x 65 h cm)