I started this painting in July 2017. Somewhat out of the blue, I had just decided to sit in the garden and paint and this is what came to mind. At once I had the title for it: ‘We’ll Be Safe Here’.

I didn’t know at the time, but two months later I was to be diagnosed with stage 3 lymphoma.

The painting sat unfinished in my room throughout most of my treatment (despite me feeling a couple of times that I should work on it more) but towards the end of the chemotherapy, I decided to get it out and finish it. As I was working on it, Mum came in and asked me what I was trying to say through the painting and I responded, “It’s all about safety, about being completely protected, with the promise of hope on the horizon…

Oh!”

And suddenly I realised that this painting, which I had started before I even knew I was ill, was all about the season I was just about to walk through and a promise for coming out the other side.