A Nailsworth artist described a recently completed Royal commission as a ‘big career moment’.
Kat Bryan-Merrett, of Kat and Owen Murals, was asked to paint a canvas mural for Prince’s Trust International, to be hung in the foyer of their Dorfman Centre headquarters in Regents Park, London. The charity was founded in 1976 but has been working worldwide since 2015 to tackle the global crisis of youth unemployment and the mural depicts the work it does around the world.
The project took around six months to complete, with initial sketches produced at the end of last year and the final piece being completed in March. It measures 12 feet by six feet and was too large to be worked on in Kat’s studio.
“I bought the canvas from Yorkshire and imagined I’d be able to do it in my studio, but I pinned it on the wall, and it took up my entire wall and floor space, so luckily the Sub Rooms stepped in and lent me the use of the George Room – it was all pretty top secret.”
The mural is now on display and was featured in an article in Hello! magazine. It features His Majesty alongside people from around the world who have been supported by the charity.
“The construction of the piece was almost like a sort of flowing ladder. It’s this idea of planting a seed and allowing it to grow. The main aim of the Prince’s Trust is to empower young people enabling them to grow, I wanted to reflect this in HM King Charles’ love of plants by representing the work in the form of seedlings and the growing tree behind,”said Kat.
“I really wanted to capture that sense of flow in the artwork, of having that initial grounding and support but then it’s up to the young people to grow and flourish.
“I did The Prince’s Trust business enterprise course (twice) myself, so it was a huge privilege to have come full circle and now, as a professional artist, to be creating work for them.”
