Alan S

Mum’s Always in the Background, 1973

It must have been 1973-ish, at my big brother’s house. And we were having a party cos I’ve got the blue hat on, but it wasn’t a Christmas party, it must have been one of my nephew’s birthdays – just before Christmas. The festive season… The ‘Season’s Greetings’, virtually every house had that image. The brown and light brown wallpaper… the dark brown always used to remind me of the letter ‘H’ and even at the time I think I was thinking, ‘Could do with a bit more colour.’ You know, that’s where I get my art from, I don’t know… it’s always been there, I love colour. And I think that’s one of the last photos of my mum. She must have been well into her 70s… and she smoked 40 Park Drive a day, which everybody did.

There were Mods and Rockers – at the time I was a rocker and the woman I married was a mod so I turned into one and got married.

Image: Alan S

Roll of hand drawn wallpaper patterns, felt tip pens, 2021-22

This is a roll of hand drawn wallpaper patterns on lining paper – all drawn from my memories of wallpaper patterns.