Beryl Gatenby is the seventh in a series of 10 business people sitting for a portrait painting by professional artist Helen Perkins in an in-Cumbria family business special in association with Armstrong Watson. We asked Beryl and Helen how they had found the portrait sitting experience.
Beryl spends much of her time tending her lovely garden – but she admits she’s never sat and looked at it for three hours straight.
When Helen came round to paint Beryl’s portrait, however, she decided the garden room was the perfect location for the sitting.
“The light flooding into the room was perfect for Helen, and with her back to the garden, and myself facing the garden what couldn’t be a better place for me to sit,” Beryl says.
“I have never ever sat for three hours just looking at the garden, and I was surprised to view the number of different species of birds landing and rummaging around the flower beds and lawn. Sitting there also brought realisation that due to the very dry spring, some watering was needed, so work to be done once Helen left my home!
“The time passed so quickly and we talked and talked about my life, her life, what interests us and much more. Helen is an extremely talented lady and I was knocked out and delighted when I saw her sketch to see that she had captured me perfectly, and I can’t wait to see the oil painting.
“It was a wonderful experience, and one I shall always remember. I feel very privileged to have been asked by Dave Clarkson of Armstrong Watson to consider the portraiture, delighted to have been in the company of Helen and witnessed at first hand her artistic flair and talents, and so thrilled I said ‘Yes’. It was an amazing journey.”
Helen says: “It is fascinating how different these portraits look, as they each appear. The different postures of each sitter, the facial expressions, the different clothes they each pick. And then there is the light, which is a little different in colour and strength in each portrait.
“I read somewhere, or someone told me, that in portraiture the third person in the room is the light. I agree - it sets the tone of the whole image.
“With that in mind, I decided to draw Beryl in her garden room, with all the light flooding in from her garden.
“This setting created a natural illumination, which I think will help to communicate something of her engaging, and bright character.”
<center><b>Click on the pictures below to see the completed portraits:</b></center>
Palace Cycles Philip Stanley
Ponsonby Old Hall Mark Sugden
John W Laycock
Whitakers Diana Matthews
Rayrigg Estates Will Marshall
Guildford Investments Limited
Simpson (York) Ltd David Hayton
David Hayton Limited Judy Bell
Shepherd's Purse Cheeses
UK Industrial Tapes Ltd in-cumbria's Family Business section Helen Perkins
Portraits and painting
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