A visit to the community allotment in Burnham-on-Crouch inspired me to make some mixed media paintings of seeds, bark and flowers for this year’s Burnham Art Trail which takes place during the last week in June.

I started with sunflower seeds – they are so graphic and the black and white shells really mix well with colour.

I wanted to work in a way that was freer than my usual pen and wash approach – with rougher lines and more abstract shapes.

I also wanted to use a wider range of materials.

After the sunflower seeds I moved onto runner bean seeds.

Runner bean seeds are such a beautiful colour – that glorious pinky-mauve with the abstract black markings.

I used black permanent marker pens in various thickness for the outlines and backgrounds of these paintings. They are much broader than the water resistant pens I usually use and I really like the way they bleed into the watercolour paper, accentuating its texture.

The base colour I used on all these pieces was watercolour paint.

As well as flat washes, I also added watercolour paint in splatters and printed circular shapes using the rim of a glass.

Then I went on to add marks with ink and acrylic paint, using nibs and brushes.

After the runner bean seeds I moved on to poppy seedheads, I was attracted more by the shape of the seedheads than their colour.

I also used coloured pencils and metalic pens and inks.

I found that charcoal and pastels gave an interesting finish on the rough texture of the watercolour paper.

And scraping the pastel with a blade gave a satisfyingly intense dusting of colour which I set with hairspray.

I was particularly pleased with how the splatter and the pastel dust worked on my depiction of the these lichenous twigs. I’d really started appreciating the colours of lichen on tree bark during the winter months when there’s so little other colour around.

As well as being beautiful, the seeds are impressive because of their huge potential, that’s especially true of the acorn.

I did find that my acorn paintings were not so successfully abstract though.

Marigolds caught my eye next. They give vibrant splashes of colour in the garden nearly all year round.

As well as being self-seeding, the marigolds also have insect repellent properties so it’s great to have them growing in the greehouse.

For this year’s Burnham Art Trail I’ll be showing my paintings in the potting shed of the wonderful Moroccan inspired garden of Frances Franklin – Venue number 4. It seems very apt to be showing these paintings of seeds, bark and flowers in a garden shed.

Here’s a link to the Art Trail map.

I painted the smaller artworks in threes. I tore the paper to separate them once they were finished, mounted them and glued them onto blank greetings cards which I plan to hang in the shed from twine like bunting.

Do check out the Art Trail website to find out about all the artists, venues and workshops so that you can plan your visit to Burnham.