“I WAS IRRESISTIBLY DRAWN INTO THE MAGICAL WORLD OF MATTHEW SEED’S INCREDIBLE WORK”
I had known for some time that I wanted to have a wonderful image of my lovely cob, Geoffrey (Geoffrey-Gorgeous to his friends, family and fans!) on my wall. I knew too, that I wanted that image to be something special; something spectacular; something unique. In addition to all those qualities, it was essential that the wonderful personality of my best friend and soul mate was captured for all to see, enjoy and appreciate.
I’d spent many months admiring fabulous portraits and speaking to incredibly talented artists, but nothing quite got me to pick up the phone and commission them. That all changed one day at Blenheim Horse Trials as this amazing image caught my eye. I was irresistibly drawn into the magical world of Matthew Seed’s incredible work and I knew that I’d be making a phone call once home to secure a booking.
And so it was that on one cold, sunny (but not too sunny!), November afternoon, Geoffrey, Anne-Marie, Matthew and I found ourselves standing in a field. We spent a fabulous 2-3 hours capturing Geoffrey in all his glory – the end result being hundreds of images being captured by Matthew. It was a fabulous experience, made all the more fun by the friendly, relaxed and professional approach taken by Matthew and Anne-Marie. The empathy that Matthew showed around Geoffrey, the patience demonstrated as we waited for Geoffrey to look in the right direction, the laughter as we got people to jump around waving carrots to get Geoffrey’s attention all made for a really wonderful and memorable afternoon.
We waited with great trepidation to get the call to go and view the end result. On the first Friday of 2014, I headed up to Matthew’s wonderful studio where I spent an incredible few hours achieving the seemingly impossible … choosing which images to have. Again, the patience, expertise and good humour in a beautiful setting, surrounded by images of Geoffrey-Gorgeous all added to the depth and richness of memories surrounding the whole experience. For those of you who commission Matthew, please do the studio element; not to do so means you miss out on so much as it is a wonderful experience in itself!
The final stage of this incredible process occurred in early February where my dream of having Geoffrey immortalised was delivered with the arrival of some rather substantial cardboard boxes. Geoffrey’s images had arrived! They are now scattered all over the house – we have him at his most regal; we have him at his most reflective; we have him being affectionate. We also have him at his most cheeky. All that I could have asked for and dreamt of – and more.
When you commission Matthew (as I strongly recommend that you do), you will have the most incredible experience from the first contact, to the arrival of the wonderful black envelope, to the photo shoot and then to the studio visit and then of course to the crowning glory of the results of all this arriving by courier at a time to suit you. Fabulous.
Kind regards
Juliet Glanville – Nr Basingstoke