For Mum

As a unique birthday gift for my mum I created this painting in 2021. My mum has always loved the vintage, the antique, the shabby-chique, and flowers. I grew up in a house beautifully decorated with her signature style, and our home gardens always had her touch. I wanted to paint something that had the softness and lush beauty of her gardens, in a realistic depiction, that would meld into my mum’s carefully curated aesthetic. I felt extra pressure for it to look just right, as I got all my artistic skill from my mum. Mum has always been an excellent illustrator. Although she says she is not a painter, she has executed all sorts of murals for friends and our local primary school. I wanted this to be perfectly like I envisioned, for me to feel like it lived up to the glory of my mum’s talent. (Needless to say she would never exert that pressure on me herself.) It was a happy ending of course. She was so surprised and impressed when I finally revealed it on her birthday. It is one of her prized possessions. I feel a lot of love for this painting, and am so proud for it to have my signature. I think mum would say the same.