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World War Two may have quashed Patricia “Paddy” Naylor’s plans to be a professional artist, but her art embellishes items found in hotels, spas and homes around the UK and worldwide.
Family members discovered her art by chance after she died in 2013.
Claire McKeever, Ms Naylor’s granddaughter and co-owner of Pure Lakes Skincare, uses her grandmother’s artwork on many of the company’s products, including decorating its new production and visitor centre.
Ms Naylor’s paintings were brought back to life for the Pure Lakes World Heritage range, specially developed to celebrate the UNESCO World Heritage inscription for the Lake District National Park.
They are now also used on the packaging of the Pure Lakes Home Spa range and accompanying cosmetic bags.
Ms McKeever said: “My Granny always had ambitions to be a professional artist.
“She even trained at the Edinburgh School of Art. But like many others, her ambitions were interrupted by World War Two when she joined the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRENS) to serve her country.
“In May,1945, she met her future husband, Peter and they married in 1946. Family life then left little time for drawing and painting.”
Ms Naylor’s work might have been lost in the forgotten garden shed studio where she painted until her death.
It wasn’t until 2019 that the family discovered the paintings in 2019.
Ms McKeever said: “I visited my grandfather, Peter, who has now died, and he suggested we look at Granny’s old art studio.
” I hadn’t expected there to be much left of it, but I was amazed to discover it intact, hidden in the brambles and undergrowth at the back of their garden.”
They discovered untouched artworks dating a decade back and an 80-year-old monogrammed paintbox from when she studied at the Edinburgh College of Art and the Heatherley School of Fine Art in London.
Ms McKeever said: “I think she would be delighted that her work is being seen by so many people.
“It makes me extremely proud and quite emotional to know that we now have this constant connection to a much loved member of our family.”
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