My mother and step-dad just returned from a four week jaunt across the pond to some wonderful-sounding places: Bath, London, the Cotswolds, and finally Cambridge. They had time to really enjoy each place and to do some things that my mother had always dreamed of doing. They are in love with England, and I am trying not to be too jealous. It is somewhere I have always felt a fondness for even though I have never been there, and I still hold dear my dream of traveling there someday. I am looking forward to seeing their photographs and hearing their stories …their adventures fresh and filled with delightful people and places.

Last year they were there for a shorter trip, and it was my mother’s first time there. She came back thoroughly smitten with the places they went and people she met. She took some lovely pictures and has graciously allowed me to use some for reference in my artwork. One thing I am particularly drawn to (being the architecture lover that I am) is the beautiful golden tones of so many of the buildings in and around the Cotswolds. The photograph from which this painting was done was taken on their trip last year, and the house in it has that beautiful golden glow. It was a beautifully composed photograph, and I couldn’t resist painting it.