"While I was working on my recent oil painting ‘The Path to Taormina’ I was also working on this, modeled by handsome DeAndre. As DeAndre has now relocated to Florida for work, I was obliged to complete it from a photo, and the photo itself was taken in November 2020: almost two years of gestation on this, and most of the work done in the last three weeks! My mind has been circling round Arcadian ideas for a while and this little floral crown with jewel berries has appeared on several models over the last few years. A recent visitor to the studio remarked that I rarely paint a smile, and Deandre has such a beautiful smile that I was keen to capture it." Binnie, September 2022
