40 x 30 x 3.5 cm

Farrow and Ball Dutch Pink and oil on box frame canvas.

2002

One day in Sheffield, many years ago, I was waiting at my bus stop on Arundel Gate outside the Crucible Theatre when I looked up and saw Sir Derek Jacobi, renowned actor extraordinary, with his dog Bella on the green. He was playing Prospero in Michael Grandage's production of The Tempest at the time, so I knew I wasn't hallucinating.

I mustered all my courage and hot-footed it towards him. At this exact moment he made back for the theatre. I caught up with him just as the Stage Door was starting to swing closed.

"Excuse me, Mister Jacobi?"

"Ye-es?" came his exquisite voice from the gloom.

"My name's Lorna and I'm an artist, and I wondered if you'd be able to spare some time to sit for a portrait?"

He was so kind. He told me to write him a note to stage door and he'd get in touch. And he did! He spoke to my brother on my parents' landline but even that didn't scupper proceedings. He sat for me in his dressing room, from which I produced this first study, and later at his house in London which led to the grid of four paintings which featured as 'early works' in my retrospective.