The 159 Bus Brixton Hill

• Dimensions: 61cmx61cm
• Media: Acrylic paint, chalk, charcoal on board
• Year: 1998
• Sold: Yes

This was an early painting of passengers travelling through London. The 159 bus route was important to me at the time, taking me between my flat towards my teaching job, and at night, it took me into the bright lights and clubs of Brixton. At the time I remember my mum saying she also took the 159 to her first teaching job, almost fifty years earlier, but going in the opposite direction from her shared flat in Streatham towards her final destination, a nursery school in Hackney (!).

The George pub would be a stop off if we were walking home at night. I remember we carried a friend up the hill after celebrating his stag weekend. On one occasion, overwhelmed by the prospect of a trip back to Tottenham, that same friend bought a car at the garage by Tony’s cafe in the painting and drove home instead. Some places have changed, some have gone, and some remain.

This painting was an early sale to some very dear friends who became early collectors