Story of a Painting

I had thought, perhaps, it would be interesting to see a painting in its various stages of progress. The story of this particular painting could be made quite long, as its origins are about a decade ago, when I attended the anglo-french literary festival held in Octobers in Parisot, France. Festilitt, as it’s called, is a special and smallish thing, organised and run by an enthusiastic collection of mainly French locals and English expatriates, and enveloped by the greens of the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region of the country.

My first book, Lost in Translation, was what took me there in an author capacity originally, and in years since I’ve made paintings for the exhibition that runs alongside the program of literary talks and events. The paintings created by artists for the exhibition are based loosely on the books featured at the festival each year, and I’ve made paintings in years past for Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13, and Robin Lustig’s Is Anything Happening?

This year I’ve painted a piece for Gardening in a Changing World by Darryl Moore, which explores how gardens can be better places for us and everything else that relies on them amidst a rapidly changing climate, looking at “recent developments in horticulture, ecology and plant science, alongside traditional ecological knowledge and advances in the environmental humanities… beyond the notion that gardening is always good for the planet, highlighting alternative approaches to how we can design, inhabit and enjoy our gardens and public green spaces, for the benefit of not only our species, but also all the others we share these places with.” — Garden Museum