On the Face of It Exhibition

Joy Carroll has tended our gardens for almost ten years. Now, we are proud to welcome her as one of our artists too. Joy discovered her talent by accident, sketching a tattoo design for herself in 2023.

Asked if she could draw faces, she said no - until she tried, sketching her grandfather. The likeness told a different story. When a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill passed among her admiring colleagues, it reached our Collections team, who asked her, without hesitation, to exhibit her work.

Each portrait in this collection marks a moment or memory that matters to Joy, offering a rare and personal window into her artistic journey. Working only in pencil, she has created a body of work that is both deeply her own and instantly recognisable to us all.