Old Badmintonian Presents Portrait of Ex-Headmistress

At the end of January, well-known artist Lucy Willis, an Old Girl of the School, presented her portrait of ex-Headmistress Joanna Turner (nee Piercy) to the current Headmistress, Mrs Jan Scarrow.

Lucy was commissioned by the OBA and the Governors to paint the portrait of the late Headmistress, in order to complete the gallery of ex Heads of the School which can be found displayed in the Dining Hall.

The commission was a difficult one; in the less image-conscious 1950s and 60s it was not unusual for individuals to find being photographed a rare experience, and the School archives found it hard to yield much more than a few old School photographs, showing Miss Piercy as a member of staff (and later from 1966 as Headmistress) as a small figure lined up with all the other staff and pupils. Fortunately her family was able to lend Lucy a rare black and white studio portrait taken around the time of her marriage, after she had left Badminton in 1969 to set up home with her new husband.

Lucy kindly spoke to GCSE and A level Art students on the day she visited and gave a fascinating talk, describing the process of producing a portrait, how she overcame the challenges of turning a black and white photograph into a colour image and outlining her long and distinguished career in art. We were particularly interested by her account of painting with prisoners as Artist in Residence at Shepton Mallet prison, which led to her winning the Royal National Portrait Gallery's prestigious annual award for her group portrait, At Her Majesty's Pleasure. Further details of Lucy's career and examples of her work can be found on her website, http://www.lucywillis.com/.

Many thanks to Lucy, Mrs Scarrow and the Board of Governors, Lavinia Sealy (nee Piercy) and all who helped this project reach completion. The painting will be framed and varnished before joining the others in the Dining Hall.