I've never written a blog before, and I'm such a technophobe, I'm not sure how well this will go, but I'm taking the plunge nonetheless.

You're probably wondering, why begin this journey at all? Why not just keep painting and let the images speak for themselves? The answer is simple, it's the best way to reach you. At risk of rambling on and boring you senseless, I want to connect so we can talk about all kinds of things such as gardening and wildlife, not just painting. You probably know me as an artist, but gird your loins for I have much to say about a lot of things, and I really, really love to write.

Right now I'm sitting at my dining table/work bench, surrounded by paints, paper, books and boxes (also known as a creative mess). I'm looking out of my back door onto a sunny, rather weedy patio, watching Red Admirals flutter around the buddleia, and it occurs to me that contentment is a precious thing, and moments like these are special. Simply put, I want to share them with you.

For example, recently I dug a pond at the back of my garden to encourage wildlife, and I'd love to tell you all about how and why I did it. This blog is an ideal place to do so.

 Recently we went on holiday to Holt in North Norfolk with no electricity or internet (with a thirteen year old) and I'd love to tell you all about that too. We spotted fourteen species of butterfly and I'm challenging myself to paint every one of them. Here, I can show you the paintings as they progress and I can tell you a little about eah of the beautiful butterflies too. 

There's only so much you can write on Facebook or Instagram; people want to click and move on don't they? Well, in this fast moving world I'm making an oasis of calm. Here we can immerse ourselves in flowers and art, bees, butterflies, crafts and creativity. So have a read, take a moment, and leave a comment if you like.

p.s. Just in case you're interested to know, here's the list of butterflies I spotted and will therefore be painting over the next few weeks.