Davinia Marshall's artistic journey began in 2020, during the first lockdown — a period that opened up rare space for reflection and exploration. What started as a quiet escape from an uncertain world soon grew into a lasting passion, and painting has remained central to her practice ever since.

She works across two primary mediums, watercolour and graphite, drawn to the distinct qualities each offers: the fluid, unpredictable washes of watercolour and the quiet precision of graphite. Her practice is rooted in the organic forms found in the natural world, and she is fascinated by the way close observation can transform everyday subjects into something worth pausing over. Through her work, she invites viewers to look a little more closely.

'Sardines' belongs to the Edible Journeys collection, a series exploring the places, plates and memories that food carries with it. Painted in watercolour, it captures three sardines nested in an opened tin, their oil-slicked skins catching the light.

The work was inspired by a trip to California and a visit to Monterey's Cannery Row, once the beating heart of the sardine industry. What began as an everyday tin becomes a small monument to place, memory and the journeys that ordinary food can hold.