You do not have to look far to find inspiring subject matter.

This is a painting of a wall tile in my kitchen. I was cooking a chocolate cake and waiting for the chocolate to melt and started staring at the tile, and suddenly realised its unique quality. I finished coating the cake with the chocolate pretty quickly, as the thought of the tile was in my head, and then put all the strawberries and grapes into the gooey soft chocolate coating and set it to one side to cool for my afternoon tea guests.

The way to get inspired is to use your powers of observation. That tile has been staring me in the face for over 12 years, how could I have not noticed its quality? There is a lesson in this little story, when you think “I do not know what to paint” make sure you are looking – really looking – at the “everyday objects around you” in your environment.

These everyday objects have been a rich source of my painting subject matter for over 30 years. So do not seek out the unusual, just go and look at a shelf in the study or indeed a tile in the kitchen!