This ‘Packet of Mustard’ was two birds with one stone, an exercise of moving into colour and breaking still life. I’d been religiously sketching in pencil, focusing on creating light & dark, trying to find a style of presentation that I was happy with. To do it properly, moving into colour was a bigger jump than you’d think. A lot of my work at that time was based on things I’d seen in magazines or on the internet; starting with this piece I wanted to control the composition.

I found the packet of mustard in a restaurant in Antigua. The simple use of 3 colours and the classic design had a real nostalgic appeal.