'Olivia in garden, Esher', (2013), oil on linen, 71 x 107 cm

This painting depicts a spacious rear garden in Esher, Surrey home of Robert, Sophie and Olivia Orman and John A Walker. My granddaughter Olivia (aged around nine) is seen from the back running and playing with an orange football. There are three dogs in the picture all Shih Tzu a breed favoured by my daughter Sophie. One dog standing in the foreground flower bed looks out of the canvas as if aware of the presence of the viewer. What initially attracted my attention to the scene was the purple-red colour of the bush at the centre of the composition and the contrast between the open, light space on the left and the darker wooded area on the right.