I visit a friend’s café, which is an endless stream of tasty snippets for a painter who loves stories. These stories often wend their way into my paintings. I was sat talking to my friend, often interrupted by requests from her delighted and indulgent customers wanting ‘another meringue please’.
‘The Orator and the Meringue’ is about just such a moment; in fact it was sketched from life. The café had two groups of customers at that time, and me who was in for that chat. The first being the Orator was proud and utterly sincere telling me of his book he had written about an important airman during the war. It was a deep, engrossing tale involving nostalgic heroics and mentions horrors that just aren’t possible to express.
Along streamed, in stark contrast, a stunning and sophisticated lady delicately coated in pretty things, from the second group. She wanted another meringue. I presumed to go with her clothing!