VERY PEONY,  May 2026

I love painting flowers. I paint them all the time. The experience is always the same: you think, oh yes, so simple — and then you start, and you think, oh my god, I'll never do this. Then gradually you find a way to tell their story, and it's very satisfying.

An artist I follow on Instagram, Christopher Mooch, posted a quote that has stayed with me: Art teaches tolerance of uncertainty. That is exactly what flower painting is. You have to trust it while you tangle with the petals and the stalks and everything else.

These peonies were brought by friends who came to dinner. Five showstoppers, absolutely stunning. As soon as they arrived I was planning to paint them -  and since they were so big, I thought I'd paint them at the biggest scale. I even thought it might be easier. I hadn't anticipated the unexpected challenge: while I was painting, in a very short time, the flowers opened. They also started to change colour. A race against time.

What I like best about the painting is the leaves. I think they look very peony.

Acrylic on Stone Paper, 78 × 110 cm