“A Moment In The Sun”

The weather can surprise us early in the year, can't it? The sun pushes its way past the grey clouds for an hour or two, and it's surprisingly warm enough to sit in.

This is a painting of a secret corner behind the flowering Viburnum and ornamental Gorse. It's out of the wind and away from day-to-day chores.

Many gardens have these cosy sun-traps, often flanked by large herbaceous shrubs, and they're pure heaven during those unexpected bright days during drab months.

We all love those moments of crisp sunshine pleasure, especially when they're unexpected. They're moments that inspire garden paintings!

A real garden painting

There are lots of sickly sweet romanticised garden paintings of seats among flowers around. They all end up similar, and a bit mundane ("seen it before") in the end, imho.

They never quite ring true for me, and even become a bit pretentious. They're like Instagram posts that we all know aren't real.

Doesn't mean I won't have a go at making such a garden painting of course, though I'll want to avoid a 'sickly sweet' finish.

There's a famous historic English landscape art painter, called Stanley Spencer, who painted ordinary everyday scenes – often involving gardens. Though mundane subjects, he captured their uniquely beautiful nature.

He was a romantic painter, but kept his paintings real rather than sickly sweet – if I could get anywhere near his level, I'd be a supremely happy artist!

The delight of garden painting

This unpretentious artwork in oils was a delight to create. But then, painting flowers couldn't be anything less.

Among my many-many lists of art to make, is a list for garden paintings in oil. I should stop wandering about outside sketching really, and spend more time in the studio!

I hope you've enjoyed reading about this garden painting, inspired by a moment in the sunshine. Still and peaceful relaxation among the flowers – exactly what gardens are for.