Gallery

You see all sorts in here. I'm an attendant and that mostly means just sitting here and making sure that no-one touches the pictures. Like, this one day, there was a young girl in with a sketch book. And she sits down on the bench in front of this picture here and she starts drawing. And this young lad has been watching her and after a while, you can see him pluck up his courage and talk to her. And, after a bit, he disappears for five minutes and, when he comes back, he's got a sketchbook and pencil as well and I have to laugh because the book still has the price sticker from the gift shop on it!

Anyway, they both sit there drawing away. She's got the best spot - right in front of the picture - and he's off to one side. And, after quite a while she puts down her drawing and starts sort of stretching, like her neck's a bit stiff and they start talking and I'm thinking "you want to take her for a coffee now, young lad!" They do a nice selection of cakes in the cafe. Expensive, mind, but nice. And then she shows him her drawing and it looks really good. It doesn't look exactly like the painting, but it looks like the painting really is. I've spent a lot of time with that painting and she caught it somehow. Anyway, she's clearly wanting to see his picture now. He's a bit coy about it but she's not taking "no" for an answer and this makes me smile because this boy's picture isn't bad - he's got a bit of a gift himself - but his drawing doesn't look exactly like the painting either. But, in his case, that's because he's been drawing her! I lean back and watch to see what happens next...