I loved the Queen, and when she died, I traveled with two friends to join the queue to see her lying-in-state. We were in the queue for what turned out to be thirteen and a half hours. A thirty hour round journey, but I couldn’t be more thankful that I went.
What blew me away the most, was the amount of people, from all walks of life, making the same journey, without even wavering when told the queue could take up to 24 hours! There was no let up, as everyone pulled together, to get through, what was a very cold night. There were many elderly people, who I can only imagine, are still walking the route, the speed they were going. All for a couple of minutes, to show your respect, support, and love, to who I think was just the most inspirational, generous, selfless, humble ( and a thousand more superlatives) woman we have ever been blessed to share our time on this earth with.
I had painted one picture of the Queen prior, but after this pilgrimage, I just felt compelled to paint her funeral, and moments from the week surrounding the funeral. I had never seen something so grand; the long march, the funeral march music, the feeling of respect, it was majestic! The one painting, turned into two, which was soon followed by three, and now I can’t seem to stop, but I have thankfully moved on from paintings of the funeral.
The first of these paintings, was Somewhere in the Multiverse, which I have included here, although it is not finished. I was trying out using oil paints instead of acrylic, and they are a little bit more unforgiving when it comes to trying to rectify mistakes. So for now, it is what it is…
