My happiest memory of Scotland in the Spring of 2004 was the day in Portsoy. It was windy with dark clouds and it had just been raining, but it was perfect going out painting. When I look at this painting, I can still feel the wind and smell the sea.

I used, as I always do, a limited pallet, taking care that the greens were mixes only from one yellow and two blues, one for the background and one for the foreground.

I visited Kew for the first time in August 2004. I saw it from the plane coming to Heathrow, and the glass from the greenhouses was sparkling in the sun. And of all my sketches and photos of flowers, it was this scene that I liked the best. It was fantastic sitting there alone with my paper, brushes and paint all around me, forgetting the rest of the world.

I used a lot of Cobalt mixed with Raw Umber for the shadows on the glass, and for the green only yellow mixed with either Cobalt or Ultra Marine.

Little Princess Laura was painted in watercolour for a children’s book. When I went to her home to make sketches and take photos she was a little shy and confused when, to go with the story, she had to pretend she was angry and throw toys around. But when I asked her to act as if she were a princess she danced around the floor for me, looking beautiful and loving every minute!

I worked on Buckingford paper with only Burnt Sienna, Veridian, Permanent Red and Ultra Marine.

I love painting flowers and, after painting this peony, I decided to grow peonies in my own garden so that I would have them to hand every time the light was right (the light is very important in watercolour).

I do lots of different types of backgrounds for my flowers, but I´m often asked how I do this kind of dark background.

I use a good quality watercolour paper with lots of Ultra Marine and Burnt Sienna (this is a mix I very often use to get contrast in my watercolours).