Acrylic, pen and acrylic ink on 30 x 20" MDF (Masonite) panel, thrice gessoed with each coat sanded down to give a really smooth surface. This painting was a commission and with commissions there is no room for error.The final picture is the creative product of more than 40 separate photographs used to create the illusion of reality.

Veronica lives in a small village in Norfolk, England, on the village green and next door to the parish church. She is what we British call a 'plants person' and her courtyard, a stone walled garden is a mass of plants of every description. Veronica knows the Latin names of each one of them!

It was the most difficult painting I have ever attempted. The most terrifying section of the picture came when I was confronted with the spindly metal chairs and table because it was so difficult to work out which leg belonged to which part of a chair, or indeed which chair. And the slightest deviation from the line of the legs would upset the balance of them - so it was a huge relief when I achieved the result that I did. 

The most enjoyable part of the process was what I called the Dancing Leaves, painted in one stroke with a Japanese paint brush - and then painting in the fine detail of the working bee and the tiny ladybird on the 'cabbage' leaves at the bottom of the painting.

I painted this picture after reading a book called 'The Zen of Creativity': It recommended that before each painting session, without even touching a brush,it would be beneficial to meditate for 15 minutes, thus controlling my breathing and reducing my state of mind to one of almost blissful peace and, most importantly, to slow down my usually racing mind. 

Only then did I begin, as suggested in the book, by first bowing to the panel to give thanks to it for 'receiving' my work.  I also bowed to it again at the end of each session as thanks for the result. Very Japanese - and although it may sound crazy - it works.

What all this meant was that I developed enormous patience. I never once gave thought to how long a section might take. I just painted and became totally, utterly lost in the process - and after every single painting session, I stepped back and was surprised by what I had achieved; it was almost as if the painting painted itself. 

I look at it now and still cannot quite believe I did it. Without question it is the best painting I have ever done - but one which I hope will regularly be surpassed!