Oil on canvas

30 x 40 cm

In 2007 I went to Florence for the first time with my parents. As well as the wonders of the Ufizi I discovered prosecco, in a little wine bar on the right hand little lane down to Santa Croce, where the incredibly kind and friendly hostess Cyrielle, who was single-handedly running the place, served my dad and I two ice cold glasses with a plate of manchego drizzled in truffle honey. Yes we became friends. 

Next day I set my easel up and painted the lower part of the Basilica di Santa Croce and the square. Who but the artist’s mother would, when requested, ‘stand like Clem’ in the sun wearing a yellow bucket hat? (To Stand like Clem is a good Sheffield expression which takes me right back to my childhood.)