Paintings of flowers were a central part of Elizabeth Blackadder’s work since the 1970s. She began painting orchids in 1980, and in 1993 made a portfolio of orchid etchings in conjunction with Glasgow Print studio, to mark the fourteenth World Orchid Conference being held in Glasgow. The intricate shapes of the orchids in this painting are intensely observed, but they retain a sense of life about them. Blackadder began to incorporate exotic fruit in her paintings in the 1980s, and here included two Chinese pears as well as pieces of patterned material. The resulting painting is a lively and striking combination of colours, textures and shapes. Blackadder was known for her joyful still-life paintings that bring together diverse and curious objects.