Stunning painted panels made by octogenarian artist Dorothy Boyeson have found a fitting new home in Poundbury. Joanna Davis finds out more.

An artist who is the last person alive to be painted by Pablo Picasso has given the most apt of gifts to a Dorset community.

Dorothy Boyeson, 89, of Lytchett Matravers, has found a home for her beautifully painted panels representing the Bayeux Tapestry at the Brownsword Hall in Poundbury.

Members of Poundbury Village Hall Trust answered Dorothy's television appeal on BBC South Today to find somewhere for her colourful panels paying tribute to the famous ancient tapestry - which depicts the Norman conquest of England.

Despite many other venues wanting to display the artwork, the Poundbury hall was a natural choice for Dorothy because Dorchester is twinned with the tapestry's namesake - Bayeux in France.

Dorothy's daughter Freya Boyeson said: "There were quite a lot of schools and universities interested in having the artwork, but as soon as we found out that somewhere in Dorchester wanted it, because it's twinned with Bayeux, it seemed fitting."

The panels were unveiled at a special ceremony featuring members of the Poundbury Village Hall Trust and attended by Dorchester Deputy Mayor Susie Hosford.

Freya said her mother, who posed as the subject for Picasso’s priceless work Mother and Son in 1958, was thrilled to see her Bayeux Tapestry work on display at a special unveiling in Poundbury.

"She was incredibly moved and it was a wonderful outcome for her. Everyone seemed to be really appreciative of the work and the deputy mayor spent a long time talking to my mum about it. It felt like a very special occasion and there's a pleasing circularity to it."

A plaque has also been placed in the hall marking Dorothy's contribution.

Dorothy decided to paint a tribute to the Bayeux Tapestry because she has a keen love of history and was fascinated by the tapestry.

Freya said: "Mum has always had a fascination with that period in history and she was studying the Bayeux Tapestry one day and decided that she wanted to do a tribute to it.

"She spent two years on her hands and knees painting it.

"She wanted to keep it in quite a simplistic style and do it very much true to life. She was thinking about what's going to happen to the artwork when she's gone and contacted the BBC to do an appeal to find a home for the panels."

Freya says that making art is just one of many ways her mum stays young at heart.

"She's taught music her whole life and always has a project going on. She walks every day and takes her five dogs out."

Dorothy was well known in her local area for appearing in public with her pet parrot Billy perched on her head or the steering wheel of her car.

Freya said: "She's stopped taking Billy out now because he's got a bit older."

Paul Master, secretary to the Poundbury Village Hall Trust, spotted the BBC request for a home for the panels at the beginning of March 2018 and suggested the hall as a potential home.

He said Dorothy's picture panels really enhance the hall.

He added: "We had some really good comments about them and the overall feedback was that it had been done well.

"Someone said it was a triumph and someone else said they look so suitable for their location."

Paul said the Brownsword Hall's initial interest in having the artwork was only because of its beauty - it wasn't until later he discovered there was a link to Dorchester.

"What is fascinating is the fact that it wasn't until after we had the panels that I, and many others, learned that Dorchester is twinned with Bayeux making this such a suitable home for the work."

The artist

Dorothy and her artist husband Hjalmar, who worked with Picasso during the 1950s, visited their friend and his partner Jacqueline Roque almost as soon as their baby was born.

Dorothy only has a photocopy left of the priceless Picasso work. She was forced to give up the sketch many years ago as it had to be sold to pay the rent.

The music teacher and mother of six children, including famed sculptor Sebastian Boyesen, took up painting in the 2000s.

Her work has been exhibited in many locations.

Dorchester's Bayeux link

The county town has been twinned with Bayeux since 1959, a link forged by the Dorset Regiment liberating Baueux from occupation on June 7 1944.

The Bayeux Tapestry tells one of the most famous stories in British history - the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and particularly the Battle of Hastings on October 14.

The Bayeux Tapestry, which is actually an embroidery, is 68 metres long and is composed of several panels that were produced separately (come say in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset) and sewn together.