My buddy Pete is a painter. He specialises in pop art and he’s very talented. When we had our celebrations at the Legion for the Queen’s 90th birthday, I commissioned a portrait of the Queen (Gawd bless her) and Pete created this amazing piece.
It was and is gorgeous. I love it. It hangs in pride of place in the clubhouse. Amid watercolours of aircraft and the Charge of the Light Brigade, opposite the associated flags of the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force, and right beside an old black and white photograph of the village’s war memorial, we have Pete’s painting.
My main character, Fiona, is an artist. I know, because I wrote her, that she works predominantly in oils and she uses brushes, palette knives and her thumb. She is not shy in her use of the paint.
She moves it thickly across the canvas. It’s an exuberant use of paint, which is brave and totally at odds with how she lives her life. In the first book, there’s reference to a painting in her hallway – a study in red, which features a woman, deep in thought.
Somewhere, deep in the back of my mind, I know that when the books explode – which should be any day now – I’ll commission a study in red by Pete. I know exactly where it can go in my living room.
So, there you have it – Day #117, PW Popart.
Petrina Binney - Author 