Worldwide Correspondence

In what is a first from the Painter's Chronicle our CEO Matthew Dawson brings to you our first Trans-Atlantic correspondence:

Well it's been a while but it's always nice to check up on the PC website where ever you are in the world. So today I write to you from a shady study in a leafy Connecticut suburb with the buzz of the air conditioning and some cool jazz ringing in my ears. This article gives me a great opportunity to look back over what I have seen and learnt about this great country over the last couple of weeks and a chance to look forward to what I have yet to experience.

The first thing that strikes you landing in New York is how well you know the place. The yellow taxis and the big SUV's full of rap and big African Americans seem so familiar from the years of culture you've absorbed from this place and when confronted with such places as the World Trade Center site it's almost impossible to comprehend what happened on that tragic spot. It has been turned into what appears to be any other building site with huge billboards presenting the exciting new projects that will rise from the ground and only brief reminders, such as souvenir book sellers, bring back the horrors.

In terms of other widely held beliefs about this place many are true, especially the fact that everybody uses cars to get everywhere. Drive-thru banks are testament to this and mean that you can deposit money, talk about loans or probably even get a new mortgage all from the comfort of your own car. This mentality does, in certain cases, create soulless towns with no real center and just a collection of malls and fast food joints. But if worked well it can produce the perfect convenience they crave with a nice town attached too.

Finally it's incredible to see how patriotic they are. I think it comes historically from the fact that in the beginning they were trying tirelessly to define themselves from the english, but it's everywhere. After standing for a very dramatic version of the national anthem last night you can see in the peoples eyes as they stare proudly at the flag, how much they love this country. But really flags are the main instrument and every house, business and government building will have one if not many .

I saw a particular extreme yesterday at the Connecticut State Congress where every senator had a little flag upon his desk which when multiplied by 100 or so causes a huge stimulatory overload of red, blue and white leaving you dazed but feeling kinda happy that they can so easily express these views without the stigma attached to flag flying in England.

So I hope all the Subscripients have a great summer and maybe I'll find time to post another update on here in the future.

Matthew Dawson CEO