‘A Family of Flowers’
Dear friends,
2025 was a pretty busy time at Tegfan. I painted the back bedroom in the little Jack and Jill room next to my bedroom, with it’s own front door and bathroom, thinking it would be my yoga and meditation space. Then, in November, I made it a space in which to paint. My own cozy home studio. After moving the tables around a couple of times, I brought the six foot Scandinavian pine, Habitat dining table from the living area into the studio and placed it in the centre of the room. The room has a roof light, just above the table - and after covering the surface of my new table with a sheet of plywood and strong sheets of cardboard - to protect it from spills and paint - I got to work. I began with my usual small canvases and mixed media paper, then moved on to as large a canvas that I could fit on the table - around 60 x 50 cms.
Painting in Tegfan Studio, Brecon December 2025
The new series of paintings is steadily growing. ‘A FAMILY OF FLOWERS’ is a subject that came to me, when all the flowers had died - so despite the short daylight hours, I am making paintings that surprise and delight me, using new to me paint colours (Geranium Rose, Veridian Green and Cadmium Orange) I started to allow these larger than life flowers, that insited on living through what is fast becoming a very cold winter, to emerge. After painting quite a few of the smaller paintings on 5 x 7 inch mixed media paper, I could see that they were speaking to me of my female familial relationships. The often fragile and sometimes fraught emotional relationship between sisters, mothers, daughters and grandmothers. Oil paint takes such a long time to dry on canvas, but with these small paintings on paper, I found the paint was absorbed quickly, allowing new textures and surfaces to emerge and also for the subject and narrative to unfold.
As soon as I realised what the subject of these paintings was about, I picked up a set of larger canvases - just to see what would happen with the flowers on a larger surface. And that was that. The flowers grew to fit the space. And now, I am wondering how large a surface I can paint them onto. I do need to get the drill out and make space for hanging the canvases on the wall. Hopefully something to show you in the new year!
Wishing you a restful inbetween time, of recovery from the hectic Christmas period and the rush of another year beginning.
With thanks for your love and support,
Joanne x
2025 was the year that I decided to get serious about a website to showcase my work and to have a space to sell some paintings directly to you, my collectors and supporters. The shop will be open some time before Spring, as I need to have the work professionally framed and photographed before offering them here for you to purchase..
