My husband bought me the painting ‘Show Jumping at Floors Castle’ for my special birthday last year.  It was a wonderful surprise as I had admired it at the Great British Landmarks Exhibition in the summer, which had a whopping 57 of Francis Salvesen’s paintings on display! 

I took a while finding the perfect place for it in the house because I wanted to show off the energy combined with precision that it portrays.  In the end I settled on the Drawing Room and it looks wonderful there.  On a dark evening with the lights on it warms up the room, but on a light day with the curtains open you sense the freedom and joy of the outdoors. 

It celebrates the wonderful sport of Eventing; Cross Country being the most challenging trial of the sport.  This is now my second Salvesen painting and they are both admired by all who visit our home.  Recently we redecorated and both of us commented how flat the room looked without the paintings….we can’t live without them now!!

I have been fascinated by Brighton Pavilion since I first saw it one sunny day in 1980. This is the first painting of it that I have seen which I felt really captured its spirit. The artist’s work stimulates the imagination with his bold strokes and vivid colours bringing out its oriental grandeur. So when I came across it in the Pall Mall Exhibition I had to have it. Now it hangs in my study taking me back to the palace every time I look at it.