One of my favourite subjects to paint are buildings. Living in Cambridge I am spoilt for choice so when I was asked by Lux Gallery in Birmingham to provide some work I wanted to paint some of the buildings there too.

I have always loved Bournville Village. When the chocolatiers open their Bournville Chocolate factory they built some really beautiful houses for their workers which have certainly stood the test of time and are rented out under strict conditions so they keep their original feel.

One of the loveliest buildings is the Rest House, perched on a hill in the centre of the village green close to a parade of lovely timber framed shops. It was built in 1914 to commemorate the silver wedding of Mr and Mrs Cadbury. It has become my first subject in hopefully a long line of iconic paintings of Birmingham.

I have included one of the photos I took for my preparation so you can see how my paintings develop and become more magical as I work.