Rough Brothers

Acrylic on canvas

One of my service cover paintings from the Bridgwater Circle series, a photograph captured while walking down Frian street in Bridgwater, Somerset. One of a pair of quite complex covers not far from each other set into the pavement. At first, for some reason, the green colours and all the balls reminded me of Wimbledon and tennis, but during the period of painting this work my thoughts turned somewhat darker, and then it looked more like the barrel of a revolver. The overall colour impression, a military khaki green. Russian roulette came to mind, as did the phrase ‘do you feel lucky’.

The worn lettering, which I could just make out, says Hayward Brothers and 187 – 189 Union Street Borough, which now looks reading counterclockwise more like Rough Brothers War 187 – 189 Union street. No doubt there is a story about this which I would love to know. It would appear that the drain covers have been moved from their original location.

Original photograph taken 06 ‎July ‎2019, ‏‎16:15:14