The scene displayed itself before me like a living,breathing painting, its not often that the subject chooses the artist but when it does I trust my gut. The space also reminded me of ‘Las Hilanderas’ by Diego Velázquez with the wheel offset, ceiling height and position of figures arms. This is not a commissioned painting, this is a piece that has arisen from my want and need to capture the scene in a sensitive light as change is inevitable and I believe that it needed to be painted before it changed beyond recognition. I made 24 pencil sketches from different angles in situ. Once I had found the right position of the portrait I then made several studies in oil paint to use as reference material back in the studio. Once I had the portrait mapped out on the canvas back at the studio I visited the workshop again to make more studies with a controlled light setup. The final sitting Nigel (the sitter) visited my studio and under a controlled light setup we completed the portrait painting.