Sip + Paint with Dani Heywood-Lonsdale
Join us for an exclusive one-night-only event with author Dani Heywood-Lonsdale. Dani will be hosting a sip and portrait painting session while filling you in on her incredible debut novel, The Portrait Artist.
Supported by our own in-house artist, you'll craft your own Victorian portrait as Dani discusses her writing process and the story itself. Afterwards, you'll be able to get your copy of The Portrait Artist signed by Dani to take home alongside your art.
Included in your ticket:
All materials you'll need to paint your own portrait
A copy of The Portrait Artist, which Dani can sign and dedicate on the night
A glass of wine from our wine-bar favourites menu
Support from our in-house artist to get the most out of your painting
About The Portrait Artist
All that is hidden will soon be revealed . . .
'A triumph ... deliciously intriguing' Harriet Constable, author of The Instrumentalist
'Impeccably researched, masterfully plotted, beautifully written' Santa Montefiore
'Imaginative. The streets, parlours and galleries of London and Oxford come alive in this twisting, Victorian-era drama.' Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake
One morning in 1890, a painting wrapped in brown paper appears on the steps of the National Gallery and causes a sensation. It's clearly by Timothy Ponden-Hall, whose paintings were celebrated and debated not just for their beauty, but for the rumours behind them: they were believed to immortalise the souls of their subjects. But Ponden-Hall has been thought dead for the last 50 years. . .
In a bid to quiet the gossip and rumours that swirl around the streets of London, the gallery brings in renowned and reluctant art historian Solomon Oak to investigate. Oak is assisted by an unlikely aide: his daughter Alice. A passionate but sheltered student, Alice has worldly desires which eclipse the life she's expected to lead. Together they discover that exposing Ponden-Hall's legacy will prove more controversial than they could ever have imagined for their family, and for Victorian society.
Set between London and Oxford, The Portrait Artist is a twisting debut exploring race, fame and long-kept secrets.
'An intriguing and original debut' Emily Howes
About Dani Heywood-Lonsdale
Dani Heywood-Lonsdale is a British-American writer with family roots in Hawaii and the Philippines. She holds an EdD and has taught English Literature in London, Oxford and Florence over the past decade. She studied Creative Writing and English in Los Angeles and New York before enrolling in the Faber Academy in London.