A portrait of Jim Frew from Kilwinning.
Included in the exhibition at The Dick next week.
The painting is misleading on first impressions. Jim isn’t a fireman, he runs a pre-school nursery in the town, in a converted church, bang in the town centre.
He bought a fire engine to entertain the children by giving hurls and “rescuing” the soft toys you see behind the windsheild. The game is that the toys are placed high up in a tree and the fire engine saves them.
The house reflected is the place Jim grew up.
I don’t often paint detail as finely as this, but the sheen of the body work seemed to demand a crisper, illustrative style. An earlier attempt showed this up when I took the wrong route first time around and had to abandon that one.
David Reid 
I had to click on the painting as I couldn’t believe it wasn’t a photograph!
Incredible!
Thank you so much. Reduction helps hide the paint marks!
David, a great portrait.
Thank you. Glad you like it.
A little different style but quite effective and excellent.
Thanks Elena, looking forward to the show.
Superb. You’ve so captured personality in this man’s expression that I feel I’m having a conversation with him. I wonder if he’d look after me in the nursery–I may be too old, but I’m certainly not too mature for the kinds of entertainment offered there! I think you struck just the right balance using the ‘tighter’ technique here, because the contrast between the high polish and sharpness of the reflective surfaces and the softness of Mr. Frew’s expression and the plush toys plays so beautifully into the idea of his being both protector and friend. Wonderfully done, David!
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Thanks for the mention, Victoria! Really appreciate it. David