Fireside with Jen (2017)

The story behind the painting
Fireside with Jen (2017)
Jenny and I clicked straight away when we met at Art College in Cardiff in 1996. I was doing my degree in Ceramics, and she was the head of the Slide Library – an absolute goldmine of art information, image resources and reference material. Soon we were going out dancing together and a wonderful bond formed that has developed and strengthened over the past 20 years. Jenny still uses two brightly coloured cappuccino cups that I made in my pottery business and gave to her as a gift about 17 years ago… and during her first round of treatment for cancer in 2016 she said that the routine of having a hot drink out of one of these smiling cups every day kept a positive thread of normality going, and helped her through. Jenny’s connection and response to my pottery inspired me to donate all my remaining pieces to the Mercury Bay Cancer Support Group, and we raised $1800, which felt like the most positive way possible for me to say goodbye to that past business venture. Jenny is recovering from further treatment now, and when I saw her in 2017 she was as warm and enthusiastic as ever, with her trademark wild bush of hair still very much there! Through my decades in Cardiff, Jenny and I would have dinner regularly at her home, on her patchwork sofa and chairs, sat by the fire (whether it was lit or not) with coffee or wine… sharing and laughing.