Best Seats in London

Making London your own

Acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91 x 2 cm

One Sunday morning about two years ago, I saw three friends who had brought chairs with them to sit on Potters Field Park and look out over Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. I have lived here for a long time and never seen people do it. People always bring a blanket or just sit on the steps, but these people brought camping chairs and made their own little coffee shop on the doorstep of some of London's greatest landmarks. It was just a very cute moment and I felt like I needed to paint it.

My first draft of this painting actually included Tower Bridge, but I never finished it. I couldn't reconcile the background without overshadowing the people. I eventually realised that I didn't care about the background. The people were the most important thing, so I completely repainted over Tower Bridge and created more of an abstract design to showcase the figures.

Three friends created their own coffee spot in London, overlooking the iconic London landmarks. They watched the city and I watched them.