What will you remember
about summer 2026?
This summer in South Wales felt like one worth remembering.
The long hot days. Evenings outside. Trips to the coast. Brown grass, crowded beaches, melting ice creams, late sunsets — and all the tiny ordinary moments in between.
I’m collecting 100 memories from people across South Wales and using them as the starting point for my first collection of paintings.
Send me a story, a photograph, or both.
I don’t know exactly what I’ll create from them yet — and that’s the exciting part.
BE PART OF THE STORY
Your memories. My paint. Let’s see what happens.
I usually begin a painting with my own photographs and experiences. This time, I want to start with yours.
Tell me about one moment from summer 2026 in South Wales that you don't want to forget.
It doesn't need to be spectacular. A day at the beach. Your children playing in the garden. Chips after a swim. A walk you've done a hundred times. A sunset from the car. The smell of suncream. A place that means something to you.
I'll spend the coming months looking for the colours, places, objects, feelings and little details that connect your memories — then exploring how they might become art.
One story might inspire a painting. Five memories might become tangled together. A photograph might contribute nothing more than a colour.
I'm deliberately not deciding yet.
What should I send?
A memory. A photo. Or both.
I'm interested in the ordinary moments as much as the extraordinary ones. You don't need a beautiful photograph and you definitely don't need to be an artist.
I want to know what happened, where you were and why that particular moment stayed with you.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Take part in the project ☀️
Enter your email and I'll send you a message with one simple question. Just hit reply and tell me your summer memory — you can attach a photograph too, if you have one.
NOT SURE WHAT TO SEND?
Your memory could be as simple as this…
"We went to Rest Bay after school because it was still 27 degrees. We bought chips on the way and stayed until nearly 9pm. The kids went in the sea in their clothes because we hadn't planned on swimming."
Example memory
"My daughter learned to ride her bike without stabilisers in Cefn Onn this summer. I remember running behind her and suddenly realising I wasn't holding on anymore."
Example memory
"We took my mum to Barry Island and had ice creams on the prom. She used to take me there when I was little, so watching her walking along there with my children felt really special."
Example memory
"We didn't go anywhere special. We bought a cheap paddling pool and it basically lived in the garden for six weeks. My toddler thought it was the greatest thing that had ever happened."
Example memory
There’s no right kind of memory. Big, tiny, funny, sentimental or completely ordinary — if it stayed with you, I want to hear about it.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Hi, I’m Becky 👋
I’m a Cardiff-based artist creating colourful paintings inspired by the landscapes, coastlines and changing skies of Wales.
I started painting in 2025, and over the past year my work has increasingly become about capturing not just what a place looks like, but how it feels to be there.
The Summer We’ll Remember is my first collection — and the first time I’m inviting other people’s stories into my creative process.
I’ll be collecting memories from across South Wales, experimenting with them through sketches, colour and paint, and sharing the journey as the collection slowly takes shape.
I genuinely don’t know exactly where it will lead yet. I’d love you to be part of it. 🧡
© 2026 Becky Hodgkin Art
