Inscription: For Tony Happy birthday

Like Paul Coldwell and Charlotte Hodes, Robin Smart and Cathie Pilkington are partners in life and work as artists. I have collaborated with both couples over the years. This lithograph showing me blotto was, unusually, not a challenging pose. The back story is interesting. The Portuguese writer, João de Melo, whom we met when he was cultural counsellor in Madrid, sent Paula his story ‘Wine’ and asked her if she would illustrate it. As it happened, she had several drawings she had done at the request of a Portuguese wine company for bottle labels. The company rejected these on the grounds that one of them could encourage children to drink, so Paula, never one to waste material, offered them to João, who wisely accepted them. This print was included in the deluxe version of ‘O Vinho’ published by Enitharmon Press. The book states correctly that Paula and I jointly translated the story, her only literary venture.