A Black Eyed Susan plant, alongside Mr Bailey the cat, keeps me company in my home studio/conservatory. It’s been doing well in the conservatory environment and I finally got around to painting it yesterday after being encouraged to by my wife for several months.

The Black Eyed Susan is a delicate thing – the merest breath of wind or glancing shirt tail provokes an avalanche of falling leaves and flowers. For this reason I felt up against it time-wise during the production of this painting. I was also compelled to reign in my clumsy tendencies – concentrating hard on not walking into things whilst daydreaming.

I kept the painting simple and was able to complete it in a couple of hours or so. Three at most, with the odd tea break. I worked in Winsor & Newton alkyd paints on a 12” x 9” canvas.