Infused with Grace Swan Art – Canvas Print

At the end of the 2019 Mayfaire Art Festival, I was approached by the Director of the Polk Art Museum, along with his staff. They had fallen in love with my bold shapes and colors and wanted to have me create something unique for the Polk Art Museum’s Mayfaire Event 2020. I am now proud to offer you Infused with Grace the official icon for Mayfaire 2020. This beautiful painting is a tribute to the four varieties of swans living in Lakeland: mute white swans, black swans, black neck swans, and coscoroba swans. When you visit, you will see the swans in beautiful black, white and grey, I used the three colors of the swans and  added the beautiful teal, lavender, purple and grey blues, setting it on a lovely lake-like background.

Lake Morton, is home to over 70 swans that are the descendants of a pair of swans from Queen Elizabeth II’s world-famous collection in England. Over the course of the weekend, as I sat with my art at the show on Lake Morton, several of my customers told me the story of the swans in the lake.

They were a gift from Queen Elizabeth II. So how does that happen in 1957? I did a little internet research and discovered the credit goes to not just one amazing woman but to three amazing women! A wonderful military spouse, Mrs. Robert Pickhardt, had lived in Lakeland with her husband for a time and loved watching the graceful swans glide across the water and when she heard the swans had died off, she was living in England and knew just the person to ask… she wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth II requesting her help. You see Queen Elizabeth owned a world renowned collection of swans. According to this article, Queen Elizabeth agreed to give the City of Lakeland the swans if they would pay $300 for their transportation  to the USA.  The $300 was paid for by a charitable donation from Mrs. Randle Pomeroy. Lakeland had problems raising the money and almost lost the swans…a barge sunk in England affecting the swans and the whole process took about two years.

A master of color and movement, Ms. Rush, has created an intricate weaving of shapes and colors using her artistic genius to create art that will enliven the walls of your home or office…like a breath of fresh air.