My Georgette Heyer Project
“Georgette Writing by the Window” 11x14 oil on panel
You may or may not know that in addition to painting, I write fiction and love reading… In fact, as a teenager I looked forward to a career as a book illustrator which would have connected my love of art and books. When the time came to commit, however, I resolved NEVER to do artwork on a computer (ha ha!), so I went full tilt into studio art instead of commercial art, and left fiction behind. For years I felt like I had “no time” for escaping with a story but happily I rediscovered reading for pleasure and began writing (CharlotteBrothersAuthor.com).
I discovered the books of Georgette Heyer not all that long ago, and I find them great comfort reads. If you haven’t heard of her (Georgette that is), you are not alone. She’s a great English author that has strangely remained lesser known than other worthy writers, at least on this side of the ocean. One theory for her surprising obscurity is that, unlike Austen’s books, Heyer’s have yet to be made into movies (well, fulfilling movies).
Heyer lived from 1902 to 1974 and was widely read during her lifetime. She is most known for her historical romances and historical fiction, but she also wrote a number of murder mysteries, short stories and a handful of contemporary works. While she is often cited as the mother of the modern Regency romance, her romances are far from the steamy sort that might come to mind post-Bridgerton. Rather, her books will appeal to you if you adore Jane Austen (as Heyer did. Shakespeare too, of course) and P. G. Wodehouse. The best description I can give you is that they are like reading an Austen plot written by a more over-the-top comedic British voice like Wodehouse. It’s like Jeeves and Wooster getting tangled with historical leading ladies! A Heads up for modern readers, there are a few (not many, thankfully) characterizations that were commonly used in her lifetime that we don’t find cool anymore (a Jewish moneylender, for example), but by and larger her wit and comedic genius in character development is top notch and her historical research was second to none.
My studio reference!
About Georgette Heyer
More about Georgette Heyer has been written by Jennifer Kloester (AUS), Heyer’s (kind and charming) official biographer. I highly recommed her biography or any of her books.
Jennifer Kloester was generous enough to give me extra bits beyond the book, little details that helped make these paintings. She sent me a couple of Heyer photos that aren’t in her book, tip offs about Georgette’s favorite flowers (sweet peas and yellow roses), and emphasized Heyer’s partiality for amber beads and fine jewelry. Jennifer Kloester
About Painting the Georgettes
I started on this project because I’m a Heyer fan myself. It was my mom’s idea to do some paintings of Georgette because she (my mom) wanted one to hang as inspiration above the table where she writes and figured other fans might as well. We both wanted a painting that would feel vintage and pleasing as art, yet recognizable as a portrait of Heyer.
Gather photos and inspiration
Start sketching
Spend hours trying to figure out color schemes and clothing (aghh!)
Paint
Some references I used in the process included these and more.
The final paintings
“Georgette Heyer - The Talisman Ring” 16x16 in. oil on panel, SOLD
“Georgette Heyer - The Talisman Ring”
This painting captures Georgette’s dreamy blue eyes and also her sharpness. She was, by description, dark haired with attractive grey-blue eyes. Here, she has some tea, fresh roses and a copy of “The Devil’s Cub” and a gilt copy of “These Old Shades”.
“Young Georgette - The Black Moth”
This 16x20 oil on panel depicts Georgette around the age of seventeen. She’s lost in a world of her own making and toying absent-mindedly with a strand of amber beads. You can see how I used the photos of Georgette to reconstruct what she might have looked like in real life around 1920.
The original is available for your collection here.
“Young Georgette - The Black Moth” 16x20 in. oil on panel
“Georgette by the Window”
In this painting (11x14 in. oil on panel), Georgette is sitting next to a garden-facing window with some freshcut yellow roses (a favorite), a volume of William Shakespeare, and her own copies of “Devil’s Cub” and “These Old Shades”.
A smile plays about her lips as she considers what comic disaster will next befall her characters in “The Talisman Ring”.
Original is Available for purchase here.
While I may not be done with this series, or I may turn my hand to a similar project with Jane Austen portraits, I’m finished with these first three, anyway. I enjoyed this challenging project, and I think anyone familiar with Georgette will recognize her spirit in these sincere tributes.
A special thank you to my wonderful mother, Lorinda, for the original commission, and to the generous Jennifer Kloester, for her assistance and encouragement.