The model for Stardust was the girlfriend of my mother’s lawyer. He first commissioned my mother to paint a stunning nude or figure study as they are politely called, of which I don’t have any photographs. As my mother got to know the model, she persuaded her to sit for this more celestial portrait. This is painted using her “scrub” technique, where she would lay the paint on with a brush and then scrub it off with a rag to leave a translucent stain behind. The other novel technique she used here was a dry toothbrush to had the stars to the painting. First the face was masked off or covered in paper, then a small amount of white paint was added to the toothbrush which was then flicked at the canvas providing a random splattering of “stars.”

Although it was exhibited several times in England, it never sold.