I’ve been working away on a few paintings recently, but today I’m going to tell you about a rather special pheasant.
Known professionally as Burberry, Lord Percy, to give him his correct title, is quite the English gent with high morals and perfect manners, and this is how this particular commission came about…
Lorna stumbled across my work on social media and had an instant affection for ‘Highland Fling’ one of my first highland cow paintings. Being born in Edinburgh she is very proud to be Scottish, despite having moved to the USA at 10 years old and with that adopting an American accent.
However, she did return to the UK after falling in love with an Englishman, 38 years after moving across the pond.
With her Scottish roots in mind, she thought that highland fling might be the painting for her, but it had already sold. Sharing my art with her husband, who thankfully also seemed to like my bright and colourful style, they looked through my collection of animals and thought that King Arthur; a mighty ram, would be the one for them, especially as the are keen Derby County fans. Alas the painting they had picked was again, unavailable.
The idea for the pheasant came following a house move. In the second half of last year the couple moved to a new home. They knew it was the house for them as soon as they viewed the back garden and came across a pheasant also wandering the garden and scoping out the house.
Clearly he liked what he saw too, as later on in the year he was found tapping on the back door, creating quite unfamiliar sounds in the process!
He now visits quite regularly along with the rest of his family. They’ve found a favourite spot and certainly appreciate the treats left out for them.
Whenever Lorna’s husband works away he always asks if there have been any visitors. Meaning of course the pheasant family that have become more and more familiar. This sparked the idea for the painting, finally someone else hadn’t got there first, and would make the perfect anniversary gift!
It’s so lovely to hear the stories behind the commissions, and of course such a privilege to be asked to paint them too. I wonder what the pheasant family think when they peek through the window and see their dad proudly immortalised on the wall. Maybe they have little pictures of Lorna and her husband in their home. I might be getting silly now, but you never know…
