Is That Jesus?

Once night in Scarborough I was looking up at a starry sky. There seemed to be one star closer and bigger than the others. I got out my binoculars and tried hopelessly to keep them steady while I studied the star. Giving up I turned to return to walk back to the hotel and nearly knocked over a small girl at my waist. "Is that Jesus!?" she asked plaintively. I let her have a look through the binoculars while I looked around wondering where she'd come from. She seemed to be alone. There was a line of parked cars nearby and a woman eating some food waved from the warm interior of the car.

Here's a painting based on that moment which was probably happened twenty years ago (I wonder if the girl remembers that moment - my hip pushed into her face.) I had a small canvas with deep edges and decided to fill it up. Where do you start? I remember the girl had ribbons in her hair. I painted the outline of a girl and then tickled in the general shape of her eyes and nose. I wanted to show her turned away looking up at the stars. How do you paint this? I wasn't sure but you have to try don't you? somehow I massaged the eyes nose and face away from the viewer leaving a small contour of the cheek. It seemed to work - the whole painting worked out well in so much as there weren't any disasters that needed wiping out with a rag.

Rather than this painting being stored in the attic for the next five decades you could buy it for £16,666. I can post tomorrow after the hospital nurse has massaged some antiseptic cream into my palatine uvula (I don't know what this means either but it sounds damned saucy - can't wait.)