In this episode, acclaimed portrait painter Lorna May Wadsworth talks about how she began painting celebrities as a teenager, how her first London solo exhibition subverted the traditional male gaze, the experience of painting Baroness Thatcher over five sittings, how she depicted Christ as a black man to which someone took exception, the imaginative materials she has sometimes used in place of canvas, how she painted a relative of someone executed during the French Revolution, and why working quickly brings out the best in her.

Lorna May Wadsworth talking with Bob Chaundy

Accompanying images on consideringart.com

David Blunkett

Baroness Thatcher

A Last Supper (detail)

Neil Gaiman (front and reverse)

Lord Melvyn Bragg of Wigton

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, The White Druid of the Gorsedd of Bards (Rowan)

Just One Macaron More Please Mr Executioner

The Milliner

All images are © Lorna May Wadsworth

Top photo courtesy of Barney Cokeliss

You can see more of Lorna’s work on her website

Music: Ibiza by MBB | https://soundcloud.com/mbbofficial