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Caroline Shotton
seen the eye as crucial to showing the subtlest nuance.” Here Henry is proud and strong with his direct gaze and Elizabeth I , with her slightly coquettish look is flirtatious as her eyes look downwards. Shotton says the portraits created in the Tudor period were very two dimensional, so with the William Shakespeare portrait she decided to include the sonnet ‘Shall I compare thee to a summers day’ in the background to add depth, with the words floating from his quill. With Black Udder And Bulldrick she says it was important that she captured the juxtaposition of characters in ‘cow form.’ “Black Udder is belittling a playful Bulldrick and his condescending sneer goes completely over Bulldrick’s vacant head - to what I hope is comic effect.”
1 William Shakespeare Canvas edition of 250 Image 24" x 24"
DECADES/RONNIE WOOD 50 YEARS OF THE ROLLING STONES
2 Black Udder And Bulldrick Image 24" x 24" Framed £599 Large canvas Image 36" x 36" Framed £995 Framed £599 Large canvas Edition of 50 Image 36" x 36" Framed £995 Image 24" x 24" Framed £599 Large canvas Image 36" x 36" Framed £995 3 Elizabeth I
Canvas edition of 250
Limited edition of 50
Canvas edition of 250
Limited edition of 50
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“I feel I have come full circle inmanyways and have rediscoveredmy natural stylewith intricate patterns, rich fabrics and Baroque lighting.”
Shotton conducted painstaking research at the National Portrait Gallery and her attention to detail is meticulous “I used a mixture of portraits for reference and paid great attention to the tailoring and jewellery design of the period” she explains. Reading biographies of her famous subjects also helped inform her work. “Luckily I do have the patience of a saint” laughs Shotton who says she worked through the night on several occasions as she became so engrossed in painting the intricate lace collars and elaborate clothing. “I really set myself a challenge with these paintings in terms of what I wanted to achieve, and the use of light and shadow is very prominent in this collection as I built up layers of paint to create a uniformly atmospheric palette.” Shotton freely admits to be being inspired by what she calls ‘the usual suspects’ - Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rubens and Rembrandt, but her real passion for
embarking on this ambitious collec- tion was as a result of a painting which ‘mesmerised’ her as a child. ‘The Ambas- sadors’ by Hans Holbein the Younger is meticulously rendered and encompasses wonderful portraiture, still life and the famous anamorphic skull, explains Shot- ton, who maintains it combines all the elements of great portrait painting that she has tried to emulate. “I hope these paintings will spark an interest in history for some collec- tors – I know my eight year old son was fascinated by them because they were ‘cows in Tudor costume’, whereas he would not have looked twice at a human portrait of that time” says Shotton, who feels justifiably proud of this accom- plished collection which marks a major watershed in terms of her artistic talent and development. Gallery 'The Tudors' by Caroline Shotton will be exhibited in Castle Galleries around Great Britain this autumn. castlegalleries.com
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NEW COLLECTION COMING SOON
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FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN 2012
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