Peaky Blinders

This is my first oil painting and depicts part of the Birmingham city centre from the early nineteen hundreds a time when the peaky blinders strutted around thinking they were invincible.

From the age of thirteen my father would have stood on one of these corners selling newspapers in all kinds of weather. He was born in Balsal Heath one of the many slum areas that existed back then before starting work full time aged fourteen as an off hand grinder.

The grinding dust he sucked into his lungs from the castings and grinding wheels would force him to stop work at the age of about forty but only later in life did it take away his sense of humour as he struggled to breath.

And he often told me stories about the peaky blinders (Razor Gangs) and of course many other tales from his childhood.

But what I remember most about him was that he was a very special person.