I am a portrait artist living in Rutland painting horses, dogs, cats and other animals from photos.
I love painting horse portraits & as a result, my aim is to achieve the best quality portraits that have a realistic likeness to your animal.
I have a long ancestral connection with Nottinghamshire that goes back to the nineteenth century.
My Great Grandfather lived at Whatton Manor at Whatton in the Vale.
Whatton Manor in the Vale of Belvoir
Whatton-in-the-Vale is an English village in Nottinghamshire in the borough of Rushcliffe. Whatton lies in the Vale of Belvoir, with the River Smite to the west and the River Whipling to the east.
There is also Belvoir Castle only a stones throw from Whatton Manor which occupies a dominant position overlooking the vale. Belvoir Castle is the ancestral home of the family of the Dukes of Rutland.
Here are photos of the original house at Whatton Manor before it was demolished in 1964. (see below)
After the demolition of the old house a new house was built and the original stables to Whatton Manor can still be seen from Manor Lane.
When I was a child living at Northfield farm Cold Overton in Leicestershire I would go over to Whatton Manor to see my great aunt with my grand mother Codge after the old house was demolished.
My Grandmother Codge first lived at Langham Lodge just outside Langham in Rutland. She then moved to Hambleton in Rutland that is now on the peninsula at Rutland Water. The pencil sketch below is of her house as it was before she died in 1990.
Orchard House Hambleton in Rutland.
Pencil Sketch by artist Penny Richardson of Orchard House at Hambleton before the family sold it in 1990.
