Would the painting come home?
WHEN Derek Robertson’s friend Cathel tragically drowned off the coast of the remote bird reserve island, Handa, Derek was devastated.
The artist had been out with Cathel only days before and couldn’t believe his friend was gone. Cathel’s father, brother and uncles had all been taken by the sea, so Derek’s grief was compounded.
Derek, from Balmerino, locked himself in a room for two weeks. When he emerged it was with a completed painting, of haunting beauty and striking likeness to Cathel.
The painting was soon sold but Derek immediately felt he’d made a mistake. In desperation, he turned to The Sunday Post for help tracing it , but it seemed no one could help.
Almost a decade passed and still Derek wondered what happened to his painting.
Then he got another phone call, this time from fisherman, sea rescue worker and musician, Richard Barrett, from Lowestoft
He’d bought the painting at auction and had been trying to track down the artist for years. Derek was overjoyed.
After leaving the auction, Richard had been approached by a dealer who had got stuck in traffic and missed the bidding. She offered him £1000 more than he had paid for it but he loved it so much, he refused.
Richard, fixated by the painting, wrote a song about it. But on hearing how much Derek regretted selling it, he returned it to him.
Derek’s relieved that his painting has come home to him. It has pride of place in his home and is a constant reminder of happy times he shared with his friend before he was lost to the sea.