There’s something almost otherworldly about painting the bluebell woods deep in Sussex in spring. I’ve been spending time working directly on location, setting up quietly among the trees as the light filters through the canopy and falls in shifting patterns across the ground. The whole woodland feels transformed at this time of year — the floor becomes a soft, luminous blue haze, while the trunks stand like dark vertical rhythms holding everything together.
Bluebells
Working in oils, I’ve been painting plein air in a deliberately loose and responsive way, trying to capture the sensation of being inside the space rather than describing it literally. The movement of light is constant, never still for long, so the work has to stay immediate — quick marks, broken colour, and layers that suggest rather than define.
What interests me most is the atmosphere rather than the detail: the feeling of depth, cool air, and quiet immersion. The bluebells almost dissolve into abstraction when you are close to them, becoming fields of colour and vibration rather than individual flowers.
These studies are part of a growing body of work exploring woodland spaces and seasonal change. Back in the studio, I’ll continue developing them into larger paintings, carrying forward the energy, looseness and emotional presence of those moments spent deep in the Sussex woods.