Toy garage made for me by my grandad Albert Edwin Todd (who was woodbutcher in residence at Woolies in Brum many moons ago) and given to me as a christmas present when I was about 7 years old.
The photograph is a reference to a cassette recording of my brother singing Away in a Manger from about the same time recorded at Nan & Grandads in Lincoln. One of two pics of myself and my brother with the first line from the carol written on tape covering our mouths. (I keep copies of these images in my wallet at all times)
The car is a 1/18 scale Mk II Jaguar which I bought for my Dad.
He had a Daimler 250 (Reg: POB 8G) at the start of the 1970s and over the years I have tried to create a collection for him of cars that he owned (including the silver Capri and a black Mini Van) which I shall now continue to do for myself.
The original car was brown and this Maisto model in Old English white was the closest I could get.
I'm intending to renovate the garage at some point and repaint it in its original colours of claret and blue. I don't know why Bert chose this colour scheme but it is highly appropriate that I now have a view from my studio window of the Aston Villa football ground.
I have used the garage in many ways over the years, repainting it and using for photographic and sculptural purposes:
A bit of fotoshoppe from a couple of years ago.
So, I'm trying to track down the lettering Bert used to make the sign "SIMONS GARAGE" it was something like this: http://www.alphabetsigns.com/letters.html but if anyone knows the whereabouts of an old set (in Helvetica font) please let me know.
