The Warmth of Audrey’s Lamp

We lived in England from 1986 to 1988. A truly wonderful experience. While there we met quite the lady named, Audrey Horne. Veddy English and always beautifully coiffed, her past times were gardening and refinishing beautiful old English antiques. I always wondered how she could do those messy things and look spot on.

I painted many a rendition of her house, her husband in his easy chair, and her gardens. Once, when painting her in her living room, the only color I could dwell on was the warmth of this lamp… everything else in the room was shades of green. Never could understand this, as outside it was an English countryside version of all green. So one day I came to finish, and the one and only splash of color was gone! “Audrey, what happened to your lamp,” I asked. “Oh, it was tatty so I replaced it with a new white lamp and shade,” she told me.

Gone! That beautiful spot of warm color gone! I really was quite fond of it by now. And asked what she had done with it. “Oh, I put it in the attic,” was her reply. Well, could you, would you give/sell it to me? Her reply was, “five pounds, please.” It was the best five pounds I ever spent.