A self-taught Scottish artist
Cheryl Morrice is a self-taught Scottish artist who paints weddings, portraits and landscapes in oil and watercolour. She was born and raised in Fife, lived there for a number of years and is moving to the Isle of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, with the plan of exploring the whole island chain. She works from a home studio, where she takes personal commissions and sells work to buyers around the world.
Her career began with stalls in the Edinburgh Grassmarket. From there she moved into commercial shows elsewhere and into children’s book illustration, and her book The Wee Coo Who Flew was published in 2017. She paints in a loose, painterly style, and says she paints for her own joy. “Life is precious and there are little joys to be found everywhere,” she writes on her site.
What she paints
Her subjects are coastal scenes, sweeping landscapes, gardens, wildlife and people at work. The countryside and the coastline supply most of the ideas, which she says come from just being out in it, and she often finishes the painting in the studio afterwards. She currently enjoys painting outdoors.
The same hand shows in the wedding work. The landscapes are built from quick, loose marks and a good deal of colour: a white cottage under a pink sky with a blue track running to it, boats at moorings on a loch, sheep in long grass above a beach. Her paintings of couples use the same loose handling, with the faces and clothes kept simple and the setting given room.
Everyday scenes
People at work and ordinary moments run through her paintings. One shows a woman in a blue dress with her arms raised, pegging washing on a line in a windy field, with a basket at her feet. Another shows a bakery front lit orange in the snow, with a small figure at its door. A third has three children sitting on a bank, seen from behind, each in a different colour.
Wildlife appears too. Her oil of two pheasants in long grass sets the birds close together against a pale sky, with the tail feathers sweeping out of the frame.
Wedding paintings
Cheryl paints weddings in two ways. She paints the couple’s memories from their own photographs in her studio, or she paints live on the day. Venues named on her wedding page include a historic manor house in Edinburgh, a countryside barn in Fife, a Highland castle and a coastal chapel, and the paintings in her gallery show couples in front of a country house, a castle and a flower-framed altar in a stone building.
A painting made from photographs can take in the details a couple remember best. It might centre on the bride and groom, show the venue behind them or gather the family and wedding party, and the couple choose the scene.
The watercolours in her gallery show how she handles a couple. In one, a bride and groom stand among petals on stone steps. In another, a bride holds a bouquet beside a groom in a kilt, with the clothes picked out in a few strokes and the tartan given more colour than anything else on the sheet.
Painting live
A live painting is made on the day at an easel. The listed options are a watercolour on A3 archival paper, painted over four hours and covering the couple and the venue, at £600; an oil on a 16 by 20 inch canvas, painted over six hours as a portrait of the couple, at £1,200; and an oil on an 18 by 24 inch canvas, painted over eight hours and covering the couple and the venue, at £1,500. The painting is delivered in a frame.
Prices exclude travel and accommodation, and bookings on the mainland carry an extra £300 for travel from the Outer Hebrides. Wedding gift options start at £300.
Photographs of Cheryl at work show how it looks. She stands at a portable easel with a palette in one hand, whether in a garden in daylight or in a lit room in the evening, and a finished painting stands on the easel beside her.
She has also painted live at corporate events. One of her photographs shows her at an easel painting a row of vintage vans in front of a room of guests.
Choosing between live and studio
A live painting is made at the wedding, so its size follows the hours painted: four for an A3 watercolour, six for a 16 by 20 inch oil and eight for an 18 by 24 inch oil. It is delivered in a frame. A painting made from photographs is made in the studio from the couple’s favourite images of the day, without the time limit of a wedding day.
Both start the same way, with an enquiry to check availability and a budget. The choice usually comes down to whether the couple want guests to see the painting made, or want a painting built from the best photographs of the day.
Portraits and commissions
Beyond weddings, Cheryl takes portrait commissions. They are hand-painted watercolours of children, family members, pets and special moments, made from photographs the client sends, in sizes from A5 to A3. The children’s portraits are in a whimsical style, and names, dates or a story background can be added.
The order starts on her site with a few high-quality photographs of the subject and a short description of the story. The client chooses the size and the portrait is painted in her studio, usually within four weeks, with updates along the way. It is sent securely packaged and ready to frame.
She also paints house portraits, favourite places and memories on commission, and gift paintings for family and friends, such as a portrait of a child, a moment or a favourite place. A shop on her site sells original landscapes.
Shown and trained
Cheryl has shown with the British Association of Naïve Artists since 2019. In 2022 she exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy Annual Exhibition, where she sold work. She has taken part in the Country Living Fair in Glasgow in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, and in the Ideal Home Show in Glasgow in 2018 and 2022.
In January 2023 she took a portrait short course at the Scottish School of Classic Art in Glasgow, in addition to her self-taught practice.
Costs at a glance
The published prices are £600 for a live A3 watercolour, £1,200 for a live 16 by 20 inch oil and £1,500 for a live 18 by 24 inch oil, with wedding gift options from £300. Travel and accommodation are extra, and a mainland booking adds £300.
Booking Cheryl
A couple starts by getting in touch to check studio availability, and by giving a budget so the artwork can be planned. From there they choose live painting or a painting made from photographs, the medium and the size. A live painting is made on the day, and a studio portrait is usually complete within four weeks.
Live painting depends on her availability and on travel, so whether she can paint at a particular wedding, and what the journey will add, is a matter to settle with her directly before a date is held.
The listing carries the full record, and the magazine issue shows her paintings and her process in ten pages.
What couples say
Couples who have reviewed Cheryl are consistent about two things: how easy she is to deal with and how much their guests enjoyed the paintings. Helen White booked the full-day package for her farm wedding in July 2022, with a large framed painting and smaller paintings for her guests, and gave Cheryl 10 out of 10. Cara Sigsworth, who married in Liverpool, said that Cheryl “was absolutely amazing at our wedding & all of our guests loved their portraits.”
Caitlin Nolan, who married at Lark Hall, praised her communication and talent. Yuwei Qu, who married at the Secret Garden, said the communication was very smooth and the whole process could not have been better. Daisy, who married in Bristol, had guest portraits and a full painting, and said Cheryl went above and beyond for her and her guests. All six reviews give five out of five, and they are on the listing.
Where she is based
Cheryl was born and raised in Fife. She is moving to the Isle of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, and her studio commissions are painted in Uist. Prices exclude travel and accommodation, and a mainland booking carries the extra travel charge described above.
