If you happened to catch my recent painting of the Warby Garden, you might find this little twist interesting.

I often let paintings sit for a while before calling them finished –just in case they have more to say. This one was no different. I’d already shared it online when I found myself deep in studies of Alphonse Mucha and the flowing forms of Art Nouveau. And suddenly, I saw this work in a whole new light.

So… I adapted it ;)

What began as a tribute to the lush tangle of the Warburton garden became something more stylised, filtered through a French 1920s lens. I introduced some stencilling, pulled out elements, layered in curves and flourishes – nudging it toward that dreamy, decorative aesthetic.

The result is Un Jardin Verdoyant (French for “lush green garden”). The original spirit is still there, just with a new outfit.

This version has already found a home with a lovely collector, but I wanted to share it with you nonetheless.

‘Warby Garden’ (How it started)

So lately I’ve had an issue with matching my oil colours with my acrylics… it’s never been a problem before, ‘cause, well, I’ve never needed to before. Chemically they are very different and I’ve come to appreciate the different effects one can achieve from each… but colour matching is a nightmare! I use one brand of acrylic and another brand of oil, and they are companies that specialise in each, and the companies’ pigments are never the same.

Enter powdered pigments! Yup, I now make my own paint (sometimes), both acrylic and oil using the same pigment powder. Problem solvent. I mean solved. One small victory.

Second victory - with powder you need a special grinding slab and muller. These are specialist instruments made from etched glass… and they cost a small fortune! It’s really no surprise why artists are notoriously poor - our equipment is insanely expensive. Really, all artists should benefit from a national materials rebate. The NMR. Y'think Mr Abbot would go for it? ;) Anyway, it turns out a Mortar and Pestle will do the same job. This one I got for $13 at Woolies, and it looks super gritty-alchemic. It’s also further evidence of my theory that painting and cooking work on the same principles.

The third small victory is a byproduct of mixing your own paints - you can control not only the colour, but the level of pigmentation. THAT is awesome for so many reasons, but is a whole other blog post :)