A small series of paintings of geraniums. Acrylic on wood, framed in a simple pine float frame with a hanger on the back ready to hang. 30x30x.7cm ( art size)
I have grown geraniums as long as I have had gardens or just plant pots. They are hardy and unfussy and grow from a casual cutting. Most of mine have grown from cuttings, whether from my garden or elsewhere. They are humble flowers but they have so many memories for me.
My parents both loved Switzerland. They had travelled there as newlyweds in their little red mini on a camping trip in the early sixties. They loved the mountains and the red geranium window boxes. Despite living in the North of England my father would pot up window boxes and hanging baskets with geraniums every spring for the summer colour they gave.
I have pots of geraniums on the back steps of my home. They remind me of trips to Italy and Greece, backpacking as a student, where steps were crowded with geraniums in a variety of containers. They remind me of Bermuda, where I first started painting en plein air. I would paint the geraniums my mother-in-law grew in a big metal tub and at the front of their pink Bermuda Cottage. They always make me think of my parents as well.