Sunday lunches at my brother-in-law’s house have yielded many interesting fruit. For instance: I now know with absolute certainty that the funniest party game on earth involves everyone giving turns to put deceased grandpa’s dentures into their mouths. The alterations to people’s faces are extreme and hilarious. Do try this at home. One particular Sunday I noticed my wife’s nephew stalking another cousin, and was immediately struck by the idea of him stalking a lion.
The painting reminded me of another I painted some years back about nuns travelling through Africa in the hopes of reforming wild animals. A touching epilogue is that that painting (which I had just assumed would never sell) was bought very quickly by an Irish couple who were astonished by its serendipitous appearance, because two weeks before seeing it they had been renewing their wedding vows in the Kruger Park when two lions appeared on the scene and, with an uncanny grasp of dramatic timing, had commenced mating.