Early, pottering through tasks, lists in my head, the garden calls me outside with my coffee.
The second sunflower is out, glowing in the morning sun. Taller than the first, it's thrown its petals back, like some young buck with a pot of hair gel. The bees are already at work. I sketch quickly and gesturally – I too, have work to do and I want to get the movement of flower and creatures.
On Saturday, hanging out the washing, as I wonder what to draw, a squash flower presents itself. It would take skilled sewing and a lot of shirring elastic to make these petals, with their intricate gathers and folds. The colours take layers of rich, eggy yellow and in the centre there are rings of green, a target, perhaps, for the pollinators.
As I draw, I see the squash leaves, this, a random plant that popped up in a pot of chillis grown for a friend. The variegated leaves (I grab a household candle for those) start like tiny cocktail umbrellas.
And while I have the candle, I use it for the arcs of white on a sketch of the clover, making a sort-of circle in the trio of leaves.
Getting my eye in – always a good start to my day. Thank you, garden!
Ballpen, watercolour, fineliner and household candle on handed-down watercolour paper.
Rose sketches from this project are available as greeting cards, from the Garden Museum shop in London and at Hackney Wick Underground.
On my Teemill shop, watercolour and line sketches on t-shirts and tote bags.