Undergrowth (Woodland Series)

Resin on canvas · 50 x 50cm · deep 5cm edges, unframed and ready to hang

Most of us admire a garden from above: the flowers, the leaves, the trees. Rachel found herself just as fascinated by what lies beneath. Working in her garden day after day, she began to notice the soil and undergrowth, and realised there was a whole other landscape down there, teeming with life and diversity.

This painting takes you into that hidden world. Burnt-orange forms branch and spread like roots, feeling their way through a glowing, acid-bright green. Around them, dark cells and bubbles cluster like seeds, spores and tiny living things, some with soft pink centres, some flecked with glinting gold. The resin gives it a glossy, liquid depth, so it feels almost alive, as if you're peering through a microscope or into rich, damp earth.

Working in resin is a race against time. Once mixed, Rachel has just four minutes before it begins to set as hard as rock, and after that it can't be moved or changed. So every resin painting is meticulously planned in advance: the colours, the layers, where each pour will go and how it will flow. What looks free and effortless is actually the result of careful preparation, a steady hand and total concentration.

It's bold, unusual and endlessly fascinating, a conversation piece for anyone curious about the natural world. It's painted on a deep-edged canvas, so it needs no frame and makes a striking statement on its own. Its sister painting from the Woodland Series, Spores, has already found a home.