Oil on plywood, 0.66m by 79.2m

Following the devastating and unexpected death of my stepfather Mr. Ercole D'Elia in 1981 I was commissioned to paint the portrait of Mr. James Ireland (retiring chairman of Buckinghamshire County Council). A builder by trade he agreed that the painting could also be a tribute to my late stepfather who was a prisoner of war and for a number of years worked on the farm in the foreground. As my father was a carpenter by trade it was further agreed that the portrait would be mainly painted in glazes thus revealing the grain of the plywood. At the unveiling ceremony there was furore and controversy.