Lena Schwarz trained as a teacher at the University of Birmingham and taught in Birmingham primary schools before the birth of their first child, Stephen.
From the moment Schwarz first laid eyes on her, Lena Jones, his future wife, occupied his heart and his sketchbooks. “When I first noticed her on a tram in Birmingham, she looked great.” He continued to paint her up until his death and said “I find it hard to see her as an old lady.”