It is still Summer but already there is a taste of Autumn in the air. In the rural village where we live the lanes are lined with the straw that has fallen off trailers piled high with bales. Our kitchen table is laden with gorgeous red and orange tomatoes , some small and some large and flouncy shaped. The victoria plums are plumping up by the minute and I can sense the wasps just sitting quietly on the sidelines just waiting for their moment to rush in and begin their buzzy annual angry tyranny in the garden. In the street, neighbours disappear back inside their houses when they see us coming with yet more armfuls of courgettes to give away. There are seedheads , seedheads , seedheads all over my garden. I love it. When the stems fall over or break I stick them in pots by my studio door so that I can still enjoy their shapes and they can still spread their seeds for next year.
Inside the studio I am also buzzing around gathering together paintings for inclusion in the exhibition that I have been invited to join as a guest artist. This is in the local market town of Chipping Campden with its honey coloured stone and charming high street. As the exhibition has been called ‘Fair Michaelmas’ I thought it only right that I include some seasonal subjects. Every year in the local hedgerows I watch the butterflies dancing through the blackberries. They never keep still for a moment and when I paint them I like to try and catch an impression of something shy and ephemeral, camouflaged amongst the leaves and patterns of the hedge. This year the blackberries are just beginning to ripen and it will be a really bumper crop so I am hoping there will also be lots more fluttery visitors . This painting of a butterfly in the blackberry patch is only little- but I have really enjoyed creating its sumptuous tapestry of colours.
‘ A butterfly in the blackberry patch’ will be exhibited at The Gallery at the Guild in Chipping Campden. My paintings will be shown from August 27th to September 15th. I will be at the gallery from noon to 4pm on Saturday 27th. Please do come and say hello and enjoy a glass of wine with us at the Meet the Maker afternoon.