Jane Hughes 

Paintings in response to letters my mother received from her best friend, who emigrated to America in the early 1950s. This correspondence lasted throughout their lifetime. Friends from the age of nine, at 16, they hitched down to London from Newcastle to make a new life for themselves, which involved finding a husband. They had both left school at 13 and had few options.

After Pat emigrated, they would never see each other again. My mother spoke of how bereft and distraught she had been when Pat had left to get married, and yet the letters between them were never confessional or emotional. They continued with updates on new dresses, gadgets, holidays and, of course, their children. Their correspondence is a poignant reminder of the experiences of women as housewives in the '50s and '60ss