“Too safe,” said nobody standing in front of deep blue. That neck of colour does all the work here, and everything around it stays warm and quiet. Hung up, a plain wall stops being plain: the oat background blends into off-white and painted plaster, then the blue holds the eye where you want it. It earns its keep above a bed, on a chimney breast, in a narrow hallway stretch, or on the wall behind a writing desk. Keep the company simple pale wood, linen, wool, stoneware, a little aged brass. Don’t crowd it with busy pattern or hang it beside bold graphic prints; the snow and the fine tail detail need breathing room to be seen. As a canvas, stretched over a wooden frame and ready to hang straight away.