A Christmas to Remember: Nick Elliott by Artist Cilla Marseglia
Over Christmas, Nick Elliott was staying at Orton Hall Hotel in Peterborough, expecting a quiet festive break. Instead, he received a gift that would stay with him long after the season ended: a lifelike oil portrait by artist Cilla Marseglia, so striking in its realism and depth that it brought him to tears. For Nick, it was one of the most memorable Christmas presents he has ever received.
The portrait’s origins go back several years, when Nick reconnected with Cilla and her husband, Cenz, during the filming of his documentary The Story So Far. Returning to the place where he grew up after more than 30 years, he was reunited with his former neighbours. Both feature in the documentary, marking a reunion steeped in memory and shared history — a reunion that became the foundation for the portrait.
Nick Pictured with the Artist Cilla Marseglia at Orion Hall Peterborough.
Nick had no idea that artist Cilla Marseglia was a portraitist of such skill. Using a photograph of Nick taken by Cenz, she began work on the painting with patience and care, capturing not only his likeness but the subtle truths of his character. The finished work reflects the quiet intensity of a life spent observing the world, the depth of experience, and the essence of the man behind the camera.
When Nick finally saw the portrait, he was overwhelmed. As Shakespeare wrote in Twelfth Night:
“I can no other answer make but thanks, / And thanks, and ever thanks.”
The painting is not merely a depiction; it is a meditation on presence, memory, and time. Each brushstroke conveys detail and nuance that photographs alone cannot capture. It is a gift that asks nothing but offers everything: a reminder of how art can illuminate the familiar in new ways, revealing the life lived within a face and the stories it carries.
In giving this portrait, artist Cilla Marseglia offered more than a painting — she offered a moment of reflection, a reunion made tangible, and a work that lingers, quietly insistently, in both memory and imagination. For Nick, it is a gift to treasure forever, a testament to the power of art to move, to reveal, and to endure.
I think it’s one of the most emotional and meaningful presence I’ve ever received in my entire life. The worker has gone into it and the scale of Cilla is just totally showstopping.
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