Ulysses #083 ‘Grow peas in that corner’

Grow Peas in That Corner

Colours of Ulysses — Page 083 | Original Artwork by Natalie Forrester

This piece, like a garden itself, evolved slowly — patiently — over many weeks, perhaps months. Inspired by page 83 of Ulysses, where Bloom wandres through his back garden on the way to the lav, planning its future — “Grow peas in that corner there. Lettuce. Always have fresh greens then.” — the painting is a meditation on time, intention, and tending to what matters.

Originally conceived as a close-up of a lettuce, the composition felt incomplete until it began to echo the layered process of gardening itself — thinking, observing, reshaping. The final artwork is a tapestry of organic forms, roots, leaves, and hopeful tendrils built up in rich, layered greens.

Touches of metallic blue recall the shimmer of the “bluebottle” fly Bloom notices — a flash of life amidst the stillness. A delicate vine, traced in white and dotted with gentle pink, was inspired by the sweet peas blooming in my own Hungarian garden — seeds lovingly posted by my mother from her Irish garden. A thread of home, growing roots abroad.

This work is a quiet celebration of the everyday — of growth, presence, and the grounded joy found in green.