All Aboard Maud: A Portrait of Steve Edge

Steve was delighted to receive a portrait of himself, which now has pride of place in the studio.

Entitled “All Aboard Maud”, the portrait takes inspiration from Steve’s passion for fishing. It depicts Steve standing triumphantly aboard a small boat atop Nelson’s Column, fishing net in hand.

Yvonne J Foster, renowned for her tiny artworks and ice cream themed designs, created the piece. We spoke to her about the project, and she shared some insights into her creative process.

“I met Steve when he came to Brighton to do a talk for a group of Creative Future artists,” Yvonne explained. “As part of my creative practice I challenge myself to draw portraits of new people I meet.

Often, I take photographs of them eating ice creams, and add them to my ever growing Ice Cream Artworks series. But with Steve I wanted to make something more personal to him.

Steve has rubbed shoulders with famous people, he’s a flamboyant dresser, a fly fisherman, and also one of a select few who have dined on top of Nelson’s Column.”

All these elements came together in the finished piece, which is based on a photograph of Steve. As Yvonne describes it, “‘All Aboard Maud’ is part monumental column, part fishing trophy.”

Steve loves the portrait, and feels it has captured his likeness perfectly.

“I always thought I was on a pedestal,” he says, “but now I actually am!”

You can see more of Yvonne’s work over on her website and Instagram.