This painting was inspired from a photograph of my cousin, Frankie and his friend, casually posed in front of his 1950 “souped” up Mercury. Frankie was only a few years older than I; but at that time, he seemed much older and much too cool to play “hide and seek” or “kick the can”. The photo brought back other childhood memories. The restaurant in the picture was also a gas station and often my brother and I would be sent there to buy Camel cigarettes for our dad. Usually, there was enough money left over to buy a couple of popsicles too! Those were wonderful times, especially the summers when the days were filled with the wonderment of play.