Birds of paradise - sketching still life

I’m going through my old art journals – and realising that I’ve done a lot more artwork than I had thought.

It’s always a nice surprise, though, to turn a page and remember a special moment that made me grab my pens.

These birds of paradise were a gift from a very colourful friend of mine. She matches the flowers in her confidence and outgoing nature – taking colour and energy wherever she goes.

These were sitting on our kitchen table for ages. Birds of paradise seem to last forever – not even I manage to kill them off. At one point my daughter drew eyes on them so that they looked at us during meals – and they truly became birds of paradise.