Do you see the one big bent leaf in the foreground of the tulip arrangement? So do I. It drove me nuts. I can't tell you how long I played with this leaf.

I was planning on setting it neatly at the back and then slightly bending it so that it would have a lovely curve to compliment the tulips. However, the bend turned out to be a drop and then it became a wrestling match to get it to stand upright again.

An hour or so later I admitted defeat and placed it in the front where it seemed to fit the best. I guess it wanted to be the star of the composition.

I then captured my battle on scratchboard using an exacto knife and a fibreglass brush. I spent a lot of time on the details in the flowers, leaf, glass and stems but left an almost abstract quality for the cloth so that it would not take away from the tight detail of the flowers and allow the viewer a place to rest their eyes a bit.

Why nine tulips? I'll let you guess.