I often spend time outside drawing in the spring when the weather is kinder. I have been making drawings of woodland edges and the transitions between pasture and trees. The spring flowers were so welcome this year and everything seemed to blossom vigorously and seemingly earlier in the good weather. For A Day in May I made a painting of a wild dog rose growing through hedging on the North Downs in Kent, near to where I live. I was drawn to the way the rose weaves through trees and hedge, how the stems create linear curves and how the light moves through the mass it creates.
The dog rose, carries associations of love, healing and resilience, as well as being a familiar presence in the landscape throughout May. In this work, I wanted to celebrate its delicate beauty, tenacious structure and the meanings entwined with ordinary natural forms.