fiona

Although it was a hot day, the fire was lit, gently heating some vegetables. The windows are low on the top floor of Dennis Severs’ House, throwing the light upwards into the room. The line of English ware and trimmed newspaper decoration hung along the shelves gleam, quietly contrasting with the flat colours of the walls and the horizontal and vertical wooden slats and beams.

Shelves at Dennis Severs’ House

2025 Oil on canvas

20 x 25 cm unframed (8 x 10″)

24 x 29 cm framed (9.5 x 11.5″)

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There is something about produce just placed on a work surface, waiting to be used. I paint it knowing that there isn’t a later chance – these items will be gone by the next morning. Because they are so freshly picked, they last the day for painting in this north-facing kitchen with its even light.

Market Produce

2025 Oil on linen panel

28 x 35.5 cm unframed (11 x 14″)

37 x 44.5 cm framed (14.5 x 17.5″)

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Perhaps because I have worked in restaurants as well as eating in them and painting in them, I appreciate the need for bread and water prepared for customers soon after their arrival. At Rochelle Canteen, in East London, there’s a sense of expectation in the bottles of water gleaming in the soft light, and in the white cloth placed over the basket of freshly-cut bread. There’s a simplicity to bread and water, and yet these things are so vital to human life.

Bread and Water at Rochelle Canteen 

2024 Oil on linen panel 

28 x 35.5 cm unframed (11 x 14″) 

37 x 44.5 cm framed (14.5 x 17.5″) 

£795 

 

 

 

The staff in this lovely little old café in Islington were completely unfazed by my sitting by the window and painting the scene in front of me. People came and went, and had conversations with complete strangers, some relating how they had known the café for decades. People can think that London is an unfriendly place, but a classic caff can belie that

Breakfast at the Angel Inn, Islington 

2025 Oil on canvas panel 

41 x 30 cm unframed (16 x 12″) 

50 x 39 cm framed (19.5 x 15.5″) 

£750 

 

 

 

I borrowed this kettle from a neighbour, purely because of its colour. I was painting contre jour, or against the light, which can be difficult without an additional window as a light source onto the painting. But I loved how the light picked out the slightly battered enamel of the stove-top kettle.

Blue Kettle 

2025  Oil on linen 

30 x 41 cm unframed (12 x 16″) 

34 x 45 cm framed (13.5 x 17.5″) 

£850 

 

 

The people who live at this busy farm allowed me to paint for several hours, whilst they went about their tasks outside. I was particularly struck by that unusually wide, shallow ceramic sink, useful for a number of domestic tasks, and forming the focal point for the painting. The daylight rose and fell significantly, but all the items placed in and around the sink caught the light as it filtered through the window.

Farmhouse Kitchen, Gloucestershire

2025 Oil on linen panel

28 x 35.5 cm unframed (11 x 14″)

37 x 44.5 cm framed (14.5 x 17.5″)

£Sold

 

I have this chair because it is light and easy to carry up to an attic room, but it has also always reminded me of the beautiful paintings by Gwen John of her own studio chair in Paris, which is probably why I wanted to paint it.

I did so over several days, during which the light changed constantly. I enjoy the challenge of what I call ‘chasing the light’, particularly as it passes across my chair with its complex basketweave structure

Studio Chair II

2024 Oil on linen

26 x 31 cm unframed (10 x 12″)

35 x 40 cm framed (13.5 x 15.5″)

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