Several months ago, our product and sales teams asked me to come up with a commemorative piece of art in celebration of the King’s Coronation. We’ve never attempted to create a commemorative gift collection before but the response we had to the artwork I painted in memory of the Queen was so overwhelming that we felt it was something that our customers would appreciate and I decided to give it a go.
It was a real challenge to decide exactly how to approach this. I didn’t want to go down the route of reproducing the usual iconic ‘Royal’ imagery as I felt this wouldn’t be unique enough. I also felt that the piece had to feature an animal of some description in order to be true to our brand. It was suggested to go down the route of a ‘King Charles spaniel’ but I felt that something about this was a little disrespectful – it is different from the association that the Queen had with her beloved corgis.
I started to write a list of what we know about King Charles. One of the things I respect about him is his commitment to environmental causes and he is well known for his love of gardening and painting – passions that we both share! I decided to try and paint something subtle and reflective that attempted to capture his charm and character. I researched some extra details (such as his favourite flower being a delphinium) and a plan had finally started to take shape. I knew that King Charles was fond of the Jack Russell dog breed (he and Camilla have two rescue terriers, Beth and Bluebell) and this was the final piece of the puzzle.
As always with my artwork, I now had quite a clear image in my head of how I wanted the piece to look. The next challenge was how to translate it onto the paper! I have spent so many years painting animals and birds of all descriptions, I have developed an instinctive sense of how to create their form and expressions in a realistic way from the ideas I have in my head. It’s quite a different challenge painting people, so I borrowed the services of Jack who very patiently modelled for me as I pushed and pulled him into position, examining how the folds formed in his clothes and where the creases appeared as he smiled.
After much sketching and experimenting with different colour palettes and textures, I finally came up with a piece that I was happy with and shared it with the team.
As always, our product development begins with the artwork so it was only now that they were able to look at what different products would suit the painting that I had come up with. The whole team pulled all of the stops out to create this gorgeous collection and we very much hope that our customers feel that it is a fitting tribute to our new King.
I am particularly excited about the collaboration with our friends at The Lincoln Tea and Coffee Co, a fabulous brand local to us, who have developed the ‘Coronation Blend’ of tea to enjoy in your new coronation mug. How very British indeed!
We have had such an overwhelming response to the Coronation Collection and as a result have sold out of some products. We do however, have stock left of our gorgeous framed prints, cross stitch kits and our King Charles Coronation tea.
The full Coronation Collection is available at stockists around the country, so if something you have your eye on is unavailable on our website, please support your local stockist. Please get in touch with our wonderful customer service team if you would like to know who your local stockist is.