A Portrait of Hope
In this month’s Hawkesbury Parish News, I’m celebrating the wealth of talent resident in our Cotswold village, and in particular artist James Nickells and his Global Portrait Project.
What is it that makes the residents of Hawkesbury so talented? Is there a secret ingredient in the local water that sparks creativity and talent?
Or perhaps there’s something about the parish that encourages those with special gifts and skills to move here. The general acceptance of exception and difference in our community is one of the many things that makes it a special place to raise our children and for individuals to thrive.
The latest manifestation of local talent is James Nickells’ recent exhibition at Three Storeys, Nailsworth of the first fifty portraits in his Global Portrait Project. This is his personal quest to paint a portrait of somebody from every country in the world. Going by the United Nations Sovereign States list, he has committed to producing 193 paintings.
His methodical approach of working through the list of countries in alphabetical order – at the time of the exhibition, he’d just reached the Dominican Republic – may come from the rigorous training and discipline of his day job as an anaesthetist – or from his other hobby as a champion solver of jigsaw puzzles!
He’s not painting just anyone from each country. As he explains on his website,
The sitter will be selected based on them having a positive story of how they have made an impact on an environmental issue. Some stories will be about individual change. Some will be about improving an environmental problem in their communities.
Working from photographs, James paints in ink, which, in his hands, creates a startlingly lifelike image of his subject with extraordinary attention to detail. The hair, the eyes, the skin, the glasses, and much more, all reward close scrutiny.
A time-lapse film shows James at work on the first portrait from the project.
It’s not just the calibre of his artwork that inspires, but the stories behind each picture. Seeing the first fifty portraits of amazing role models making a positive impact on our planet was extraordinarily uplifting.
This was a particularly welcome feeling when there is so much dispiriting and downright frightening news around the world just now, and not only to do with the environment.
Disappointed that you’ve missed the exhibition?
Don’t worry, you can catch up and keep up with the Global Portrait Project via James’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@theglobalportraitproject4628. Here James shares time-lapse photography of each portrait in progress, prefaced by the story of the subject’s work.
You can also follow James’s journey via his project website, www.globalportrait.com, on Instagram at @globalportraitproject.
Every follow encourages James and helps spread the word about his remarkable Global Portrait Project – yet another reason we can be proud of the talent resident in our parish.
This article first appeared in the March 2025 Hawkesbury Parish News.
IN OTHER NEWSThird Cotswold Curiosity Shop Mystery Now Available to Pre-orderIf you’ve been enjoying the first two books in my new Cotswold Curiosity Shop series, Death at the Old Curiosity Shop and Death at the Village Chess Club, you’ll be pleased to know that the launch date has been announced for the third in the series. Death at the Village Christmas Bazaar (working title) will be published on Thursday 4th September. The ebook is already available to pre-order on Amazon here. As with all my Boldwood Books titles, it will also be published in paperback, hardback and audiobook.
In the meantime, the first two books in the series are selling well and also attracting plenty of enthusiastic reviews. Huge thanks to all my readers for your support. Every sale and every review drives me on to write more books
Launching on 4th September 2025Tickets Now on Sale for My New Murder Mystery PlayTickets are also selling well for my new murder mystery play, The Importance of Being Murdered, which will be presented by Hawkesbury Drama Group (more local talent!) on 25th and 26th April. The audience are invited to play detective and solve the murder at the end of the show. There will be different endings each night, so that there can be no spoilers for the second audience! The ticket price include antipasti snacks at the first performance, and a two-course meal the second night, provided by village caterers Poppy and Boo (yes, even more local talent!) A pay bar will be open too. Tickets are available in tables of eight or individually, and must be booked in advance, as we anticipate a sell-out both nights. To book your tickets, simple email hawkesburydrama@gmail.com. 
