Anya & Demitri

I was cycling back from Sunbury Lock to Hampton Court along the Thames tow path when, to my surprise, I spotted a cockerel strutting around among some bushes, followed by his bohemian looking owner who emerged from a nearby barge. She scooped him up and gave him a cuddle. The cockerel’s name was Demitri. His mistress said that he wold sleep at the foot of her bed at night like a cat and tweak her toes. I was so taken with the sight of this colourful duo as a picturesque and striking subject for a portrait painting that I asked her permission for me to photograph them both, and she agreed. The painting very quickly sold to someone who owns chickens.