This was painted by a family friend of ours, Tim Dolby. He’s a full-time artist and will travel around to find material for a new series of paintings, and then bring them all back to the UK to use in an exhibition. Each painting is different and this is a relatively small painting compared to the others I shown here on this blog, about 50cm x 50cm. You’ll have seen a theme emerging from my collection of paintings – bright colours. I am addicted to colour (although not in my dress sense, I have to admit) in art and this is another one that manages to convincingly introduce colours that would not realistically have been in the scene originally. Having the imagination and percpetion to see colours that aren’t actually there is a skill I’ve yet to grasp in my painting.

          To the left behind the villa you’ll see three cypress trees – my favourite kind of tree. I ignore the fact that they represent death, as for me, their height and their always straight shape attract me. I see my future Tuscan villa having a long drive lined with identical cypress trees…. Looking at art inspires me to think behind my to-do list and what’s going on in my life at that moment in time, and that’s part of the appeal of galleries for me. The inspiration to dream and let my mind wander into a painting, into another time or place, to look through another person’s eyes. A non-art lover will think I’m pathetic upon reading this, but art is so much more than just an image to me.