Dallas artist Michael Shellis never imagined he would deliver one of his portraits to Buckingham Palace, but late last month he did just that.
In late October, Shellis presented King Charles III with his portrait and visited with him for about a half hour.
“This completely came out of the blue for me,” the 33-year-old said.
The self-taught artist got his start tagging bridges and the back of signs in the Denton County city of Argyle, where he grew up. Today he has a studio in the Dallas Design District.
His father’s family has London roots and his cousin, Suzy Jakeman, is the director of projects and partnerships for London’s Community Kitchen.
The nonprofit works to end food waste and insecurity. Its CEO, Taz Khan, wanted to thank the king for his support with a portrait.
The king champions sustainability and working with nature. He wrote a book about it called Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World. Shellis uses reclaimed materials in his work, so he was a natural fit.
“I feel like I've been on this war path my entire life. … I just don't throw anything away. I reuse everything,” Shellis said.
To make the work, he went to London and painted in a temporary studio. He combined painting with elements of collage, collecting flowers and leaves and dyeing them with used coffee grounds.
“For two and a half weeks I would, quote-unquote, sustainably, collect flowers from Hyde Park, meaning I'd act like I'm tying my shoelace and pick a few,” Shellis said. “I was able to find different pigments to build up the color of his face.”
He salvaged a piece of wood from a dumpster for his canvas.
“The piece of wood I found, if anything, was a prime example of this was gonna get thrown away, and now it's a priceless piece of royal art, literally,” Shellis said.
Meeting the king felt surreal, he said, almost like he was transported into the animated Disney film Cinderella.
“I remember thinking this was exactly like that, I just don't have a glass shoe on,” Shellis joked.
Shellis didn’t know Charles is also an artist. He said it seemed the king, who paints with watercolors, took a keen interest in the process.
“He's such a warm person that I don't know what I was expecting, but the word class just kept ringing in my head; he just has so much class,” Shellis said.
“A big way of seeing class is somebody that is hospitable, kind and genuinely interested. You know, those people that are constantly looking over your shoulder when they're talking to you, trying to figure out who they're gonna talk to next? He's the opposite of that.”
Shellis hopes his painting will be loaned to other countries and used to start conversations about sustainability.
The palace did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication.
“I am absolutely pinching myself that I can now call the king a client and, hopefully, one day, a friend,” Shellis said.
