After all the excitement of the Fleurieu things, I approached a new gallery being opened in Melbourne by Stella Dimadis. This was the first work to put in a solo show there.

I suddenly saw this Skill machine in the Mannum supermarket (though it had always been there), and simultaneously came across the cellophane-wrapped toy soldiers. The two images came together so strongly that I did the painting immediately.

The dress shop is a bit further down the street, with a lovely typeface - the model and trouser suit were exactly like that.

I used the same truck as in 'Fence Truck and Joggers' because of the strong slab of the lower body topped with the spatially defining lines of the cage which also pushed the lettering back. (I had enormous problems getting that lettering to stay right at the back of the painting.) The camel is just for fun, as is the clown, adding a middle picture  between the dog/road/dress shop and the Skill machine.

I worked on this while the Iraq war was being discussed, hence the toy soldiers. I have a terrible problem with seeing any of it as real.