Independence Day

Independence Day, or as most people call it, The Fourth of July, is being celebrated today in the United States.

The anniversary of the publication of the declaration of indpendence from Great Britain in 1776, the celebrations have deep roots in the American tradition of political freedom.

As a national holiday, most Americans celebrate with parades, barbecues and fireworks.

Those following my blog will know that I spent twenty eight years in the States from 1966 til 1994, and so I have celebrated many a Fourth of July event.

Between 1967 and 1971 I lived on Staten Island and commuted on the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan every day. This meant that I passed the Statue of Liberty along with Ellis and Governors Islands twice a day on my way to and from work.

I lived in an area on Staten Island called Harbor View Place, where I rented a little cottage which had been a gate house to what was once the enclave of a grand Vanderbilt summer estate. This is where I lived with my son Jarrod from 1967 til 1971.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, when the main house burnt down, the estate was developed by Cornelious Kollf into a very attractive residential area.

A picture of Cornelious Kollf standing in front of his house, which was next door to the cottage where Jarrod and I lived. We rented the cottage from Mimi Kollf, the daughter of Cornelious. Mimi died aged ninety in 1975.

At the end of Harbor View Place, you look out onto New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty and then across to the island of Manhattan. To the right is the Verazanno Bridge completed in 1965 the year before I arrived in the States. On the Brooklyn end of the Bridge is Fort Hamilton, and on the Staten Island side, Fort Wadsworth.

This area has such a rich history. One I believe that most people miss when they visit New York.

Working on Wall Street I watched the twin towers being built, and just three weeks after they were destroyed, my son Jarrod and I took the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan where of course we saw the chaos of destruction.

The Statue of Liberty was given to the people of the USA in 1886 in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution. It symbolizes freedom and democracy.

And so I say to all my friends in the USA - eat some hot dogs and waer melon for me, and have a fantastic day.

Well I watched the Murray/Roddick match yesterday at Wimbledon, and at the end of it was aboslutely exhausted. I felt as if I had played myself! Murray didn't win this time around, but was an extraordinary opponent to the brilliant Roddick. At twenty two years of age he has much ahead of him.

This image is of the artist Howard Thorne. I painted this portrait, (large oil on canvas) in Howard's studio around 1989. Howard was a fantastic artist, and an amazing character. During World War 11 he was a war artist for the United States, and so I thought it fittiing to show his portrait today.

When Howard died in 1995, this portrait draped with the Stars and Stripes, was at his funeral.

I miss him very much.

A Bientot