The Queen of May

The Queen of May is an exuberant springtime landscape painting with wild flowers and a white barn owl flying over an English meadow. It is a 36x36x1.5 inches, oil on canvas. A bridleway leads in from the left with a bank of cow parsley to the right. A white barn owl flies over the path. Behind her you see a blue sky and the slope of the South Downs with the patches of woodland through which ancient drover’s paths lead to the top. In May, cow parsley lines the edges of fields like lace and looks like the month is dressed up in its best dress – which is appropriate as this is when nature is most active in reproducing itself. This is an actual landscape that I visit often and is a place that has magic in it for me. I wanted to pay tribute to this area (near Ditchling) and also to help highlight the efforts of the ‘don’t urbanise the downs dot com’ movement who are trying to prevent this area being built over. Painted on deep edge canvas, white edges, no frame needed, comes with a certificate of authenticity