About 18 months ago I was approached by the Friends of St Helena Church in Austerfield, Doncaster to produce a pastel portrait of William Bradford (Pilgrim Father). This was to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower to Plymouth in the USA.
William Bradford was born in Austerfield and special celebrations are scheduled for 21/22 March 2020 at St Helena’s Church. Many more of these events will follow in both the UK and the USA.
One of the bigger challenges was that there are no images available of William Bradford so a suitable ‘sitter‘ had to be found. Also it was important to have the clothing appropriate to the time. I was fortunate to receive help on both of these challenges from the Plymouth Plantation in the USA and particularly from Malka Benjamin who is an Associate Director of the Plantation.
It’s been a long road in the making but I am pleased to say the portrait is complete and will go on public display for the first time at Austerfield later this month. As usual in my work, Unison Colour with their great range of wonderful colours, have played a big part in the portrait. Thank you once again Unison you are the best!
You can visit Cath’s website at www.cathinglis.com.
