It is with great sadness that I inform you, if you have not heard yet, that Duncan Butchart, the beloved artist behind these prints, passed away earlier this year after a difficult but short fight with cancer. He received a devastating diagnosis this February 2021 but kept positive, worked very hard, and continued to focus on his family, friends, and his devoted clients here at Nature Works, unfortunately despite all of this he passed on the 7th of July shortly after his 63rd birthday.
My name is Lily Butchart, his daughter, and he handed his business over to me shortly after passing. He didn’t want to burden me with the work of managing his business however I felt very strongly that his legacy deserved to still be out there. I know that many of you still want to appreciate and experience his art, his travels, and him. I know that after a lifetime of exploring, learning, writing, painting, and illustrating, Duncan felt very happy with where his work had finally gotten, he was excited for the growth of this business and proud of the creations he was making. And I know that it would be a tragedy for it to all be packed away so soon after it began. Obviously no new work will be made, and as of right now I am only capable of maintaining the distribution of his work. However once some time has passed and whatever healing is possible has begun, I will enact some of the eventual goals that we spoke over the years at great length about and Nature Works may be able to achieve at least a collection of his hopes and dreams.
I apologise that we have been closed and mostly out of touch for the past few months the loss has been incredibly significant and starting this all up and sifting through all of his things has been a daunting task for me. But one cannot sit and wait forever. We have reopened for the next month in the hopes that some of you can secure the Christmas presents we have been asked about and just generally so that those who have been eager to add to their collection, can. We will close again briefly on the 17th of December and then permanently reopen in the New Year of 2022 in the hopes of a fresh start. I am looking forward to fulfilling your poster-print needs and to honouring my father for the incredible man, the inspirational leader, the compassionate conservationist, the talented and skilled artist, and of course the damn fine dad that he was.
I thank you again for your tolerance and understanding and I look forward to seeing you at this store soon.