Robert Pengilley Maggie Shepherd at home

Maggie Shepherd is designer and managing director of a clothing company with outlets throughout Australia and America. She designed the Australian costumes for the 1990 Commonwealth Games and is an official designer for the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Robert Pengilley says: 'I painted her in her house which has a very pleasant leafy garden. I paint a lot of landscapes and so, in this picture, I was very concerned with the link between the figure and the landscape, and the way in which these two can be brought together compositionally.’

When creating his paintings, Pengilley continually redraughts and redesigns on the canvas rather than thinking everything out in advance. 'The light was very complicated and constantly changing – this made it a challenging picture to paint. I wanted to keep the focus on Maggie and the light and the garden. It is a very happy painting.’