During her art classes with Anthony Dattilo Rubbo in Sydney, Cossington Smith was inspired by lunchtime readings from a letter Van Gogh wrote about his bedroom in Arles. In particular she was interested in the idea of conveying an emotive response through colour. She explored these ideas in her own way in Van Gogh’s room and also experimented in a range of works on a small scale with different aspects of light and colour at different times of day.