My brush with royalty

In all the commotion of our recent move, I forgot to share a few bits of exciting news. A few months ago, along with six other Canadian watercolour artists, I was invited to contribute a watercolour that would be part of a gift to King Charles III to commemorate his coronation in May, 2023. I should mention that King Charles has always been a keen admirer and collector of watercolour painting, which has a long and rich tradition in Britain.

And so, half-sheet watercolours by me, Poppy Balser, Neville Clarke, Linda Kemp, Peter Marsh, Lin Souliere and Rayne Tunley are now part of the Royal Collection Trust at Buckingham Palace. Pretty thrilling stuff, right?

And then in the November issue of Plein Air magazine, more great news: an article about the king’s interest in painting and our gift to him. You can see all of the paintings on the second spread of the article (below).

And then yesterday I received this update about our gift to The Royal Collection Trust: I wanted to let you know that the seven watercolours gifted to mark His Majesty’s Coronation have recently been framed and hung in the Redgrave Room at the Queen’s Gallery, London. This is our space for lectures and other special events, so while they are not ‘on exhibition’ as part of the normal visit to the Gallery, they are being seen by all those who attend such events. The watercolours will probably remain there through June, so if any of your artists happen to be visiting London in the next months, we would be more than happy to show them in situ!

Alas, I won’t be able to see my painting hanging at the Queen’s Gallery anytime soon. But I will have the satisfaction of knowing that several pieces of Canadiana will be there. The painting I chose for the collection was “Winter Boatyard”. I wanted something that was authentically Canadian, and what could be better than a snow scene from one of my favourite spots in my former neighbourhood?

Thanks so much to Linda Kemp for organizing this special gift and to Poppy Balser for connecting with Plein Air magazine!