Thistle Fanfare (Cirsium vulgare)2025. Watercolour on 100% Cotton 400gsm cold-pressed paper. 48 x 32in

ABOUT THIS PAINTING

Thistle Fanfare was created to be framed for one of the major cabins aboard MS Balmoral. The research for the piece, however, took place during a cruise around the British Isles aboard MS Bolette, another ship in the Olsen fleet. Field sketches and photographs were gathered primarily around Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, along with other stops across the Scottish isles, before the painting was later developed in the studio.

There, the spear thistle - native to Scotland and long a symbol of the nation - stood sentinel: spiked and unyielding, at times crowned in clouds of searing lilac and blue, at others softened beneath faded blue-greys and dull purples.

Working at 48 x 32in is a considerable undertaking in watercolour, a medium more commonly suited to intimate scale. Controlling washes, timing, and the movement of pigment across such a large expanse of paper demands a steady hand and patience in equal measure — every passage of colour has to be planned and committed to, with little room for correction.

The stems and leaves are rendered in quiet tones of deep emerald and moss greens, with the background built from soft neutral washes layered with care: a study in restraint, in the discipline of colour held back rather than let loose.

Marmalade hoverflies drift through the thistle haze — small bursts of sun against the cool northern palette, emblems of delicacy within a landscape that can be fierce.

The painting is an essay in contrasts, in the spirit of Scotland itself: strong yet soft, thorned yet tender, resilient and quietly alive with motion.