It has arrived safely so I can reveal it now

When I saw this painting in a magazine I just had to use it for a friends' bag.

It is in the Tate Gallery in London, and was painted by John Singer Sargent in 1885-6

It is called, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.

The painting is set in a garden in the Cotswolds village of Broadway,

where John Singer Sargent stayed in the summer of 1885.

The children lighting Japanese lanterns with tapers are Dolly (left) and Polly Barnard.

Their father was the illustrator Frederick Barnard – a friend of Sargent’s.

Sargent wanted to capture the exact level of light at dusk so he painted the picture out of doors, in the Impressionist manner.

As autumn came and the flowers died he resorted to painting flowers in pots. The title comes from the refrain of a popular song The Wreath by Joseph Mazzinghi. It was a Victorian song - alas I do not know the words. 

In his painting the lilies and are white - so too the dresses. The background is rather dark because of the light he painted it in. I have taken a bit of 'poetic license' and painted with alcohol inks and a highlight pen on a heat transfer which has been absorbed by the jute.   I personalised the bag by copying the header page from Pat's Blog and coloured that too.  If you haven't visited her blog - do take a look - she makes the most amazing bags - amongst other things!

A little message inside

 
It looks better in real life - it was a bright sunny day when I took these photos - I am hopeless with a camera!