This is an eyetrace painting based on a family photograph of a street party on VE Day. I love the original photograph not only because it includes my mother's family in Speedwell, Bristol but because it depicts the spirit and reality of the times. The celebration is marked with tea and (a few) sandwiches. A boy walks by with a string shopping bag. Most of the young men are away at war - so the celebrants are mainly women. Despite austerity the party looks eagerly forward to a brighter future.