I had enjoyed sculpture at art school, and Ethel and Bert grew out of this
interest, while following the seaside theme begun with such paintings as
Corporation Blue and Triptych to the Seaside (see Figure Composition page). Ethel and Bert have a chickenwire base, with papier mache built up over the surface, followed
by real clothes and a coating of paint and glue. They were exhibited fairly widely, touring round Scotland at
one point, and always attracted comment – I had a lot of fun with them. A
newspaper reviewer at the time pointed out that Ethel wasn’t wearing a wedding
ring – an omission I had completely failed to notice. He suggested that perhaps Bert and Ethel were enjoying a dirty
weekend.
