Autographed 'Take That' portraits in Charity Auction
17 November 2022
Friday, 25th November – UPDATE: The 'Canvas for the Mac' charity art auction is now LIVE! Follow this link for details (my entries are lots 86, 87 & 88, and Sally's is 137). The online auction will run to 6th December.
Wednesday, 17th November: As noted in my post of 9th October, I did a little portrait of Take That star Howard Donald for a charity auction, which he duly signed. What I didn't say then was that it was on the cards that I might paint the other two members of the band as well...
Turned out that the organisers of the campaign – Canvas for the Mac, which is raising funds for the palliative care Macmillan Unit in Christchurch Hospital, by auctioning celebrity-autographed, original-artwork canvasses – had already planned for Gary Barlow and Mark Owen to 'sign up', so how could I say no to completing the trio?
My studio-mate Sally Davies, who also donated a piece to the auction, and I went to its launch event on 3rd November (when I handed over Howard and Gary, and took possession of Mark's blank canvas, which had only just been signed). It was fabulous! The range of art styles on display, and the megawattage of the famous who had signed (and in a few cases even artworked) a canvas was truly impressive. Amongst those depicted – all of whose canvasses will be in the auction – were Queen guitarist Brian May (what I would have given to paint him), writer/comic actor Ricky Gervais, royal equestrian Zara Tindall, movie star Chiwetel Ejiofor, presenters Ant & Dec, journalist/broadcaster Piers Morgan, gardening guru Alan Titchmarsh, and football luminaries including Lioness Leah Williamson, campaigner Marcus Rashford and manager Harry Redknapp... who was there on the night with his wife Sandra, and very generous with their time they were too. The venue was packed, the buzz was amazing. What an evening.
Anyway, I managed to get Mark finished just in time. His canvas was collected and taken straight to the auctioneers to join the others, in hope of raising lots of money for this wonderful cause. The auction itself goes live online around 25th November and should run for 10 days – click here to arrange for a reminder. Happy bidding!
