King Charles III

When he began showing his paintings, he was skeptical about signing his own name, so he signed the canvases with the pseudonym A.C. Carrick - Arthur George Carrick. Arthur George are two of his names (Charles Phillip Arthur George) and one of his titles is Earl of Carrick. Since 1970 he has painted 680 watercolors signed by A.G.Carrick.

He said about his paintings:  "You become increasingly aware of things that may have escaped your attention previously, things like the quality of light and shadow, tone and texture, and the shape of the buildings in relation to the landscape. All of which requires the closest concentration intense and, as a result, it is one of the most relaxing and therapeutic exercises I know of. In fact, in my case, I find that it transports me to another dimension that literally refreshes parts of the soul that other activities cannot reach".

Charles founded The Prince's Foundation for Children and The Arts in 2002, to help more children experience the arts first-hand. The king is a keen and accomplished watercolourist who has exhibited and sold a number of his works to raise money for his charities and also published books on the subject. To mark the 25th anniversary of his investiture as the Prince of Wales in 1994, the Royal Mail issued a series of postage stamps which featured his paintings.