Reading Museum Artists' Range

 

Along with everyone else in 2020, Reading Museum was closed for several months, however the Museum Staff were beavering away finding ways to share their collections online and also re-open their online gift shop, where every purchase made goes towards supporting the Museum. "Characters of Reading Abbey Quarter" collection was the idea and with the freedom to choose which characters of Reading inspired me, I created three pieces. Two with Oscar Wilde, where he ended up standing as he likely never would have, admiring the Reading Abbey ruins, with his back to the Gaol. What he is thinking is for the viewer to ponder, perhaps to find out what book he is holding. And it did then seem appropriate that Oscar would look good on the rainbow flag too! And as the Queen of England that never was, Empress Matilda, often overlooked and mistaken for other Matilda's, I thought she deserved a bit of recognition too.