'LETTER BOX AND BIKE ON HIGH STREET'

This was a commissioned piece begun and finished in November. Well, OK, a slight carry over into early December because I was too lazy to add some wheel spokes. Actually, this was commissioned by my wife Christine.

Christine and I did a trip to Wales and Britain this past summer. We spent two weeks in  Lee on Solent, Christine's childhood home town. She is rich with memories of places and people that we revisited. Her school friends, like ourselves, were six decades older than she remembers, but the warmth of friendship was there so remarkably that a person would pay any amount of money to experience that again.

The painting is a nostalgic reminder for Christine. Her choice of location. "High Street" is a commercial as well as residential street, and is also where the Methodist Church is located. Her grandmother lived not far from this spot pictured here, and her own apartment home was around the corner one block away. The letter box is characteristic of British post boxes and the bikes often rested on a curb rather than using the kick stand. I hazed out the background shops at Christine's request to concentrate the viewer's focus upon the two primary objects.

Elizabeth Regina with the regal crown icon and the words Post Office are raised letters on each post box. It was fun trying to achieve that with paint. In the actual painting it appears more successfully than here.

Christine will hang this over her desk so she has a striking reminder of her roots for the duration of this her seventieth year. Happy Birthday once again sweetheart.