The first painting that I have completed for the 50 Flowers project is of the small and bright purple Bellflowers that appear around the concrete steps leading from our back door.
I love how they brighten up what would otherwise be a dull, grey area. They appear each year in abundance with no efforts on my part.
They are at their best in the low evening summer sunshine when they appear to glow and the colours intensify into a range of indigos, purples and pinks. I’ve tried to capture this in my painting:
In Jack Wallington’s book Wild About Weeds he describes them as “one of summer’s most delicate sights” and, through his descriptions, I believe that the bellflower I have growing by the steps is Campanula portenschlagiana, the wall bellflower. (There are over 500 species of bellflower. It takes both its common and its scientific name from its bell-shaped flowers – campanula is Latin for “little bell”). I’ve never thought of them as weeds and Jack Wallington’s book is actually a call to appreciate what he calls the “rebel plants” in our gardens. (I discovered his book by listening to the interview he gave on the Organic Gardening podcast in June 2020). It’s thanks to his wonderfully informative pages that I have identified a lot more of our more commonly seen flowers – many of them I will be painting for this project.
Since I have decided to increase the size of my paintings (see previous post) I will be initially selling Limited Edition Fine Art Giclée Prints of each original painting: 250 A3 prints, 150 A2 prints and 100 A1 prints – 500 in total.
Each Fine Art Giclée Print will be printed from a high resolution scan of the painting; each print will capture all the details and brushstrokes of the original. The A1 prints will have the image printed at the exact dimensions of the original painting: 50cm x 70cm.
For the Limited Edition Fine Art Giclée Print sale of the Bellflower painting above I will be supporting Horatio’s Garden Wales. They have created a wonderful feature page about my fundraising project on their website here.
I have chosen this as my first charity to support as it is a special garden being built for patients recovering from spinal cord injuries at Llandough Hospital, which is very close my childhood home. As a child, I had several occasions to be a patient at the hospital, as have other family members, friends and acquaintances. It is easy to take for granted our local hospitals and the NHS services they provide. But also it’s so important for our hospitals to be accessible, welcoming and rejuvenating places for people to recover – being outside in nature has proven to be an amazing healer:
“When I heard Wales was going to have a purpose-built Horatio’s Garden at Llandough Hospital, something went through me which is hard to explain. I know from my own experience what it meant to be able to go outside to feel the fresh air. To be with your family away from the clinical environment helped no end with my rehabilitation. To have a bespoke garden with all of the small details considered to make it easily accessible for people with low mobility will be tremendous”. – Rhian, previous patient of the Welsh Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Centre
If you would like to purchase one of my Bellflower prints and also help me raise funds for Horatio’s Garden Wales you can do so here.
50 Flowers for 50 Charities 