If you were to bump into James down a dark alley you might be forgiven for thinking you were in trouble, nothing could be further from the truth, he is a gentle soul who despite the loss of sight in one eye (one too many drinks!) and the way it makes him look, he is one of the gentlest of people you could wish to meet.

 

The night before I did this painting I had been watching the movie Ben-Hur for the hundredth time and he looks to me as if he could have been any one of the great biblical characters from that movie.