Robert painting

A commissioned painting I just finished of Robert, my boyfriend. The pieces on the chess board symbolise his life in Norwich at the moment. Robert has many activities one of which is chess which is how we met. One of my good friends in Norwich is a former chess champion and player, Mike Read. He is my friendly next door neighbour from when I lived on the other side of the city. Mike comes over to my side of the city occasionally and we meet up for a chat in my local pub. Robert overheard our chess conversations; although I am a hopeless chess player I can still listen to old chess stories. Robert joined in the conversation one night and that is how we met. I had drawn him a chess piece that night of one his moves that he was talking about which must have been a chat up line in the chess world. A knight taking a Queen.
Robert used to cycle all over the city to play chess, until Mike Read put him in the right direction of a chess club that is walking distance at the Catholic Cathedral on the corner. Robert built a website for the chess club and plays various teams around Norfolk, which is a good way to meet people. They also, I just discovered, have their own bar and bring in professional chess players to show off there greatest moves. As for getting sporty for the Olympics I do recommend chess for those who would like to compete with the mind rather than the body.
Go on, treat yourself and ask me to paint your portrait. Artists have to eat and pay rent, they don't have a weekly pay cheque to pay bills and they usually do more voluntary work than anyone else on the planet.