When I contacted Tim about painting his portrait he asked “Why?”
Well, why not?
He’s an interesting character and probably one of my most challenging portraits yet. Tim has many facets to his personality and was almost a different person each time I saw him.
Tim’s next question was “Where?” I envisaged him at a grand piano of course and he suggested one of his favourite old venues, The Basement. If you’re familiar with this club, let me tell you it’s a very different-looking place during the day. It was surreal to sketch and photograph Tim as he played a few tunes on the old Steinway.
I first painted a small study of the portrait, which was a finalist in the 2007 Lexus Mortimer Art Prize.
Tim gifted the portrait to his mother – I hope she likes it.
