Ed’s Birthday WhatsApp

It’s no fun having a birthday when you’re not allowed to see people. So three of us surprised our friend Ed with a video-call (we were hiding just off-screen to jump out and say ‘surprise!’)

A few days later, Ed commissioned this painting to mark the occasion. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Franco-Russian painter Nicolas de Staël, so I was channelling his mastery of the impasto effect you get with a palette knife.