Painter's diary

These sunflowers were growing abundantly on an allotment. The seed heads are left for the birds to feed on during the winter months. I love the variety of blacks and browns in the dead stalks, leaves and heads which are quite complex to paint.

It’s October and time to paint another squash before they disappear for another year.

A small painting of cherries for a handmade card destined for my stall at St Johns School Christmas Fair in Leatherhead, Surrey November.

This is a small branch of developing cones from a Blue Atlas Cedar found on a walk through the arboretum at Exeter University.

By mid July the Milk thistle flower has transformed into an impressive seed head.

This plant is a herb related to the daisy family. An extract from the milk thistle seeds can be used to treat diseases relating to the liver.

These thistles grow several feet tall and the spikes on the sepals surrounding the flower and on the leaves are razor sharp.

These poppies were growing on a grassy bank alongside the estuary at Bosham in Sussex providing a beautiful splash of colour. They are common poppies which grow in rough grassland, roadsides and farmland.

These tulips were in a pot in my garden. The colour is stunning and I just had to paint them.