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This mixed-media painting is a progression of the collage ‘Para Titi’ (below). Ghosts of the past live alongside the present. It uses drawings of paintings of photos, of a time and place that no longer exists, as the background wallpaper.

Generations of women are linked as all Mum’s costume and clothes were made by her mother, painted here by her daughter.

As a girl my Mum was called by the pet name ‘Titi’. This is for her.

surrounded by her Memories,

children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren ...

and me.

This mixed-media painting is a progression of the collage ‘Small World’ and uses the portrait ‘in his Prime’. It was created by adding layers of paint and line on top of a monologue text.

He sits in his chair watching his favourite DVDs on TV, over and over, joking about not remembering what happens next, or how they end, watching his own mortality slip away.

The present may be fuzzy and blurred, but the past replays itself in sharp contrast. The world that was roamed and ravaged by War, rebuilt on the building sites.

Surrounding and enclosing him are the photographic images of the ‘stuff’ of his daily routine – pill organisers, toiletry needs, pain relief, religious objects… - repeated day in and day out with the rigour and thoroughness of a naval exercise.

He was always at ease with men. The words on the outer edge are his monologues, some of many, repeated and told afresh on each visit as if new to our ears.

It has become a small world.

- during the war I served in the navy – on small ships – we escorted the convoys across the atlantic – the seas around iceland were so cold – if a man went overboard there was no hope for him – we had to cook our own food – I used to spend all my money on food when we went onshore – I used to eat half a dozen eggs in one sitting – we were always hungry – the sea gave you an appetite – I took the exam to get away from the cold – I was posted to pakistan – you wouldn’t believe what went on in those places – beheadings – a dirty cruel country – I used to watch out for the ‘pings’ – your mother and I met at a dance – she loved to dance your mother – the catholic club in gibraltar used to put on these dances so young people could meet – the chaperones sat around the edge of the room to keep an eye on things – it was like that in those days – she was a very handsome woman – he was a super bloke – on the job in jamaica we built the job in record time – we gave the men bonuses to finish ahead of schedule – they couldn’t believe it – the speed and quality we worked at – I was called back when you became ill – I used to sell veg from the garden round the houses as a boy – there was woman who gave me money even when the last ones were sad and tired looking – people were very good – it made me late for school and some of the priests would turn a blind eye knowing I was helping to support the family – I made a cart from an old box and pulled it behind me with the veg inside – my dad was a great gardener – he could anything grow – lot’s of muck he’d say – jimmy was always a big lad- immensely strong – tony had a phenomenal intellect – he was in bomb disposal during the war – they only took the brightest - during the war I served in the navy – on small ships – we escorted the convoys across the atlantic – the seas around iceland were so cold – if a man went overboard there was no hope for him – we had to cook our own food – I used to spend all my money on food when we went onshore – I used to eat half a dozen eggs in one sitting – we were always hungry – the sea gave you an appetite – I took the exam to get away from the cold – I was posted to pakistan – you wouldn’t believe what went on in those places – beheadings – a dirty cruel country – I used to watch out for the ‘pings’ – your mother and I met at a dance – she loved to dance your mother – the catholic club in gibraltar used to put on these dances so young people could meet – the chaperones sat around the edge of the room to keep an eye on things – it was like that in those days – she was a very handsome woman – he was a super bloke – on the job in jamaica we built the job in record time – we gave the men bonuses to finish ahead of schedule – they couldn’t believe it – the speed and quality we worked at – I was called back when you became ill – I used to sell veg from the garden round the houses as a boy – there was woman who gave me money even when the last ones were sad and tired looking – people were very good – it made me late for school and some of the priests would turn a blind eye knowing I was helping to support the family – I made a cart from an old box and pulled it behind me with the veg inside – my dad was a great gardener – he could anything grow – lot’s of muck he’d say – jimmy was always a big lad- immensely strong – tony had a phenomenal intellect – he was in bomb disposal during the war – they only took the brightest

The passing down of womanly knowledge and feminine power from mother to daughter through the generations. (I wanted the mother’s mother in the painting too, but couldn’t persuade her to sit).

In the Christian faith, Eve gets a bad press. The temptress, the Fall, Knowledge as sin. Here I wanted to show it as a benign force, a gift.

The sky is dark and stormy while bright sunshine lights the field.

The apple tree has leafburst but no blossom.

The older daughter already holds her apple and smiles.

The younger daughter accepts her apple with inquisitive delight.

‘Missing’ is a reworking of a theme explored in 2007.  Here the ‘absent’ child is a bruised void. I used a classic ‘Madonna’ pose to highlight the tender feelings left without an object of affection.

Below, two of the original trilogy ‘forever… & ever…. Amen’ explore the themes of miscarriage, phantom pregnancy, and postnatal depression.

I wanted to try to express emotions through paint techniques (knife and drip painting), and the use of empty but stuffed clothing to represent the absent child.

I had finished painting a portrait of Sybil for my neighbour, Ron. He had been very kind and welcoming when we first moved to the village. When I hung the picture in their living room, I noticed her slippers were still placed by her chair, two years after her death.

Ron kindly sat for this painting. I particularly like the way the curve of his stomach echoes the curves of the sofa.

It turned out to be a study of enduring love.

Laura F……., nee Borg (meaning ‘rock’) of Gibraltar and a Hard Place,

The APPLE is a symbol of fertility, love, joyousness, knowledge, and wisdom – the forbidden fruit.

Brides, like my mother, wore apple blossom in their hair.

“Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me…”

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