Remember when holiday memories were shared in person, sitting together and flicking through a photo album, which then became photos on an iPad or laptop, with stories filling in the gaps?

A friend of mine, who stays completely off social media, showed me images from a recent trip to Egypt. After a boat journey along the Nile, he had stopped at a camel farm, one of the few places he could explore on foot. As he talked me through the trip, we moved slowly through the photos, each one carrying its own little story.

When he reached an image of the camels, he skipped past it quickly, saying it was “not the best”. But I loved it and immediately asked him to go back.

The warm light, the richness of the colours, and the cheeky faces of the camels stayed with me. I asked him to AirDrop it to me, and with his permission, it became the starting point for a painting.

Over the following months, and with a small shift in the camels’ stance, Lovely Lady Lumps took shape. What was once brushed aside as “not the best” became the painting itself, shaped by a shared moment of noticing and storytelling. The original was sold to the very friend who shared the photograph and stays off social media, which feels like a gentle and meaningful full circle.

A3 prints of my Lovely Lady Lumps are now available on my Ebic Paints Etsy store.