The title 'Drown Out' comes from the poem; 'Sanctuary' by Jean Valentine.

Her words resonated with the feelings of this piece.

I had two vases of dead and almost dead flowers, both given to me by loved ones. I was moving them to the sink to pour the water away before throwing them out and I was hit my this intense feeling of loss and sadness.

The flowers were still beautiful and had a radiance about them, but my life felt like an echo of a previous time. My mother has always loved receiving flowers and they were my home as a child, always on display. My children were at their father's at the time. I always grieve and miss my children when they're away, and as I was throwing out these once beautiful flowers, I felt complete loss.

I changed the scene outside the window, which should be my neighbour's wall from our Victorian terrace house view. I wanted something more hopeful to suggest a sense of peace and to balance the colours better.

I like putting animals in my recent paintings. When I was growing up in Berkshire, we were frequented by a robin who sat on our fence every morning. I remember looking at him each day before school and I wanted to place him into this painting of echoes and memories.