Edwards was around 30 when he painted this self portrait. He studied at Gray’s School of Art. In the self portrait, we probably see the front stone wall of his cottage. Behind the artist’s shoulder, we see the interior containing an archetypal family, mother, father and child, conjured up in loose brushstrokes. Though each figure is distinctive, they also meld into a whole. He is depicted as a nervously alert young man. His pinched face and wiry neck strain towards us (and towards his own mirrored reflection). His expression is deadpan, the bodily pose awkward – the shoulders stiff, each hand self-consciously holding a brush. And yet, there is self-awareness; the artist dissects ambiguities and complexities of his character with painstaking precision.