I interviewed Angie and Mel in September 2015. Mel has lived in Chicago 15 years, and his wife Angie has lived in Chicago for a little over two years. They live together in the upper unit of a two flat, in Andersonville, that Mel bought, with the couple that lives downstairs, about 10 years ago. When Mel and Angie first started dated, they dated long distance, with Mel living in Chicago and Angie living in the Bay area, in California. Mel and Angie say that they spent a lot of time on the front porch during the first summer when Angie spent time in their current home. The painting depicts this front porch where Mel and Angie shared a first beer and watched thunderstorms, which are uncommon in the place where Angie grew up. I think I was really drawn to paint the front porch because of the specificity of the memories associated with that particular spot in the home, a first beer shared there, thunderstorms watched.