I chose our own garden in Oxgangs because it is the landscape I know most intimately and the place where I can become completely absorbed in looking. Although we are surrounded by the wider landscape of Edinburgh, with the Pentlands, the Braid Hills, Blackford Hill and Craiglockhart Hill all close by, my partner Catharine is the one who is often out drawing and painting those views. For me, the garden has become a sanctuary from the pressures of the city. We are fortunate to have a corner plot sheltered by mature trees, and at the moment it is in a state of transition as Catharine reshapes it with new shrub borders. There is exposed soil, pots, established plants waiting to be repositioned, and evidence of ongoing work everywhere. I found that mixture of growth, disruption and renewal fascinating to paint. Working right in the middle of it allowed me to immerse myself in a landscape that is both familiar and constantly changing. The paintings begin through direct observation in the garden itself, but they are then developed further in the studio, where memory, invention and playful reimagining become part of the process.