Marmalade Days

I have always really enjoyed the process of creating and making, the chance to be lost in one’s world for a while. Like reading books there is a silent pleasure to be had and perhaps a sense of satisfaction or a wry smile in acknowledgment of an achievement.

My weekly trips to the local market continue to bring seasonal joy. In the winter there are an abundance of root crops such as carrots, beetroot and swede. There are wooden boxes filled with greens and brassicas, cabbages, purple sprouting broccoli and leeks. The fruits grown locally include autumn harvested pears and apples, large rather tart, green cooking apples like Bramley’s. What I always look out for in January are the Seville oranges for making marmalade. They are also used for the “citrus notes” in many gins, so I am told. These bitter fruits are packed with pectin which is key to a well set marmalade.In the U.k the fruits are mainly shipped from Seville in Andalusia during the period of January and February. 

I placed a few oranges in one of our Italian soup bowls and placed two in the foreground to counter balance the accent of blue of the ceramic handle.The fruits have hints of green and touches of yellow.

These are drawn with marker pens on paper to give a more graphic and energised image. The flatter forms of marker pen work may well lend itself to reproducing these images in other formats.

• Original artwork mounted. Original size: 210mm x 245mm
• Produced January 2026
• Signed original
• Mounted with a back board
• Free U.K. shipping and insurance included