Mum…

This painting is borrowed from a black and white photo taken by Vivian Maier photograph. She worked for about forty years as a nanny in America in the 1940s and 50s. She led a quietly obsessive life taking more than 150,000 photographs during her lifetime. She hoarded many small possessions and kept them in storage. When she couldn’t pay the storage bills her stuff was sold at auction and tens of thousands of photos documenting American street life came to light.

I just like the way that girl’s hand is holding my mum’s skirt. I thought she’d be saying “Mum…” to get her mum’s attention. After this I wondered what she was inviting her attention to…..an ice cream I thought so I painted one in quickly. The girl had licked it once then dropped on the floor.

Note the moles on the lady’s leg in the photograph. I did not put these on the painting.

In the photo the lady is obviously buying something at a shop counter but it’s unclear what kind of shop it is. So the painting wasn’t featureless I added some wares in a counter and on shelves, attended by a big-boobed assistant.