Children of Thailand I – boy, was one of a pair of paintings my mother did as a commercial venture to generate income while she was hoping for more regular portrait commissioned work. I distinctly recall posing for the body only, I would have been around nine or ten at the time. My mother was a great observer of human anatomy and the distinct facial structures of different ethnic groups. A close examination the full size working sketches shows how she has developed the head shape for this painting which is of course a bit different than my own Nordic shaped head.

Interestingly the bird is a Budgerigar or Parakeet and although natively from Australia, I think it’s sufficiently “tropical” to be appropriate even if they are more likely to be found in the average English household than the Outback. This particular specimen is a portrait of my Grandmother’s Budgie called “Joey” that we occasionally looked after. I know it’s name was “Joey” as every generation she had was blue and called the same.

I’m not exactly sure what became of the painting but I believe it was sold, along with it’s mate, to the big department store in downtown Bournemouth.

Working Sketches

Below are a series of full size sketches that I came across, each with progressively more details.