I decided to avoid the “ET phone home” type title. ©2014 – Cathy Read – Work in Progress – Hi Mum, Just Called to say…- Watercolour and Acrylic on paper-30 x 21 cm Taking shape nicely. And here it is after a I’ve started using the inks. It’s quite hard to make out structures at this stage but you can see the telephone box and, if you look closely you can just make out the outline of parliament in the background. ©2014 – Cathy Read – Work in Progress – Hi Mum, Just Called to say…- Watercolour and Acrylic on paper-30 x 21 cm This is the picture just after the initial wash and with the cling film still in place. Think I’ll leave that to your imagination.

I thought I’d add a tourist/traveler/student to the box. This is probably the most famous one as it’s close to the Houses of Parliament so is very popular with the tourists. Although, it’s a favourite subject of mine, There’s something classic about the old red telephone boxes. It takes a while for the shapes and character of a piece to emerge. The title took a while coming.Paintings can seem mysterious in the beginning. Good news, bad news, “I’ll be late”, “I got the job” This red telephone box painting got me wondering how many stories could it tell?

Maybe it’s just me being nosy but I often wonder what conversations phone boxes witness. Ever look at someone in a phone box and wonder who they’re talking to or what they’re saying? These days they are more often used as a photo prop. The ones by the Houses of Parliament are probably the most well known, and an obvious choice for people calling home from the city in former times. In the age of mobile phones, the importance of the telephone box is not something Millennials think of, but there are still plenty around. When you hear Blondie’s Hanging on the telephone what do you imagine?Īt the time of the song, public call boxes were everywhere and I can imagine her standing in one, receiver to ear waiting… The setting adds a touch of visual drama.

Waiting in a phonebox