A WOKINGHAM artist says her late husband would be “proud” of her most recent work, after she painted the Town Hall in his memory.
Lynne Bellchamber has captured the historic building to remember her husband and former Wokingham Town councillor James Fox, who passed away suddenly last year.
She says she chose to paint it because the building held a lot of meaning for James when he was alive.
“James loved the Town Hall so much,” she says. “He used to mention quite often that it’d be lovely for me to paint it.
“It was always in the back of my mind and especially since he died, so it felt like the right time.”
Lynne and James moved to Wokingham from Eastbourne, where he grew up, after they had children.
The artist, who spent her childhood in the town, says her late husband quickly made it his home too.
“He loved Wokingham and threw himself into the town,” Lynne says. “He was always fascinated by the Town Hall and it came to represent him, because he often had meetings there.
“He fell in love with the building and I then came to look at it quite differently when I saw how much it meant to him.”
She adds: “I keep thinking [how James would feel] and he’d be really proud of me – I know he would.
“He was always proud of me and he was proud of Wokingham, so I think he would have loved this painting.”
The Wokingham resident, who had always wanted to be an artist after pursuing a degree in Fine Art, says she has relied on her creativity to process her husband’s death.
“Without a doubt, painting has been a great way for me to express my emotions and has been a comfort [since James died],” Lynne says.
“He was 100% behind me in my art career and pushed me into it – I did it for him.
“Alongside my two daughters, painting has pretty much been the thing that keeps me going.”
And she is now considering producing more paintings of sights around Wokingham after her Town Hall piece was incredibly well received on social media.
“Wokingham has a lot of pub and a big pub culture, so I’m quite interested in painting some in the future,” Lynne adds.
“The response [to my work] from everyone was overwhelming and deeply touching.
“It was purely just for me and for James, because I didn’t realise quite how much the town hall means to so many people.”
Lynne is selling limited copies of her painting online.
To find out more about her work, visit: www.lynnebellchamberfineart.co.uk
