Lyrical Bouquet 2021

One of the creative issues with using handmade paper is it can be fairly unpredictable. This was a Spanish handmade paper which from the look and feel of it I had really high hopes… unfortunately in practical terms it didn’t work the way I expected. The watercolour would bleed everywhere if it touched any other watercolour, even when dry. It wouldn’t flow either. I struggled so much with it and I had already put in hours and hours of work, so I had to come up with a solution. The solution I came up with was a gouache background, painting all those negative spaces between the lyrebird feathers was fun… anyway, as with The Spider and the Fly, my most challenging paintings often become my favourites.Lyrical Bouquet 2021
Watercolour on handmade 100% cotton rag paper
80cm x 110cm
Private collection