I’m actually too young to have taken O-levels, but ‘GCSE’ just sounds so downmarket, don’t you think? And anyway, this inspiration, like the qualification, is much more 70s than 90s. It’s the plants one used to be obliged to draw week in, week out, in the pottery-dust sunlight of the school art room. Spider plants, rubber plants and cacti – they’re everywhere this season.

I first spotted this trend when I began thinking about decor for my seaside study – a project which I’m off to go and start any minute – the Pink Ground paint arrived today! The wallpaper is by Designer’s Guild, and is not in my possession because it is as pricey as it is lovely. But you get the idea.

I put together a Pinterest moodboard for this room, if you fancy a look, and it includes these plant-based images. The sketches might be a more affordable alternative to the wallpaper – somebody pass me some sugar paper and an HB2.

I’ll do my best to take some shots of the study when I’ve painted. I’ve got about 50 spiders to escort off the premises first, ironically. But let me know what you think of the O-level art trend. And to prove that maybe our art teachers weren’t wrong – that drawing cheese plants really is the first step to artistic excellence – here is a shot of Matisse’s studio from 1948. What a beast.