She often has more than one painting on the go at any one time, building each up from washes. Composition is extremely important to her, finding patterns, similarities and contrasts in her subjects, as even conventionally beautiful views do not necessarily translate into an interesting picture. In still life and flower paintings she looks for ‘stars’ and supporting casts, trying to avoid an all over look. She rarely uses photographs except as an aide-memoire if the weather is changeable.