‘It is the life and spirit of each particular flower that interests me. The feeling that each flower inspires as we cherish and behold its individual character and beauty.’
William Garfit
Flowers of Joy – An introduction by William Garfit
2020 opened a new chapter in my life as Covid gripped the world with the sad loss of so many. However as a born optimist, on the first day of Lockdown I sat with a cup of coffee in the garden and realised that, though I could not travel, this was the opportunity to paint a new subject; my favourite flowers. This had always been an ambition but with fifty years of travelling far and wide to paint exciting rivers or the north Norfolk coast, there was rarely time. However, on those trips as a general naturalist, I would always take the opportunity to enjoy the flora and bird life.
So as Lockdown commenced on March 23rd, , on that sunny spring morning, I realised that the challenge of painting wild flowers could be achieved in my studio, going no further than the garden or my reserve. There, over the past fifty years, I have created many diverse habitats, on the seventy acres of old gravel pits, which support over 400 wild plant species. By the following day I was painting the beauty of the pendulous, upturned white flowers of the wild cherry. Then primroses caught my eye and as days became weeks and spring evolved into summer, there was an ever exciting sequence of special and beautiful subjects. No sooner had one floral treasure been completed than others were crying out to be painted. All were on small boards, painted in oils and it seemed natural to paint them life size and so each dictated the proportion and shape of the panel.
The summer was like a long painting holiday, being totally absorbed and inspired day by day as different flowers were arranged in my studio in bottles or jars. Those species that would have collapsed in a vase were dug up with a ball of soil and planted temporarily in a pot. All were set up in my studio with an old green/brown shooting coat which was a good natural colour and tone as a background to best compliment the flowers and foliage. The shadows behind the folds of the coat allowed the daylight to enhance and illuminate tones and richness of colour.
However whilst I and my family were fortunate not to catch the dreaded virus, I was aware that so many people were suffering devastating health problems and loss. So to bring a little joy to family and friends I decided to share images of the weekly paintings with messages of joy relating to each flower to share a note of optimism. Then a stage further as we acknowledged, by clapping, all those working tirelessly in the NHS, I sent these images and messages of inspiration and thanks to bring a little encouragement and cheer to all at this most difficult time. These were published in NHS News emails. Though there were a number of people who were keen to purchase the paintings, I was keen to exhibit them as a collection. I am now thrilled it has come together in this extensive exhibition.
Looking back at the collection, it is interesting to see that in spite of intentionally trying to be botanically correct, they are not cold, scientific, botanical illustrations. It is the life and spirit of each particular flower that interests me. The feeling that each flower inspires as we cherish and behold it’s individual character and beauty. So for me they are my selected favourite, “FLOWERS OF JOY.”
All works will be live on our website on 1st May