By Dave Lord

A FIFE senior citizen decided to take a nostalgic Easter weekend trip to a Perthshire antiques centre—and was dumbstruck to be greeted by a portrait of herself.

Lilie Forrester from St Andrews had forgotten all about the portrait— painted over 50 years ago—and was amazed to be reunited with it.

Mrs Forrester, who had not visited the Rait Antiques Centre for over 20 years, snapped up the unique piece for what she described as a “bargain price.”

The senior citizen, herself an artist, had not even been planning to visit Perthshire. Yesterday she outlined the bizarre series of coincidences that ended up with her taking an emotional trip down memory lane.

“A friend and I were planning to drive to Broughty Ferry as I had some business there, but the sun was shining and so we decided to take a drive instead.

“Even then we were not planning to go to Rait; we just passed the sign and thought we could stop off for a bite to eat,” she said.

Mrs Forrester, now a widow, last visited Rait with her husband over 20 years ago.

She was enjoying a stroll through the fine art section when her friend spotted the portrait.

“I agreed the pastel portrait did look a bit similar to myself, but it took a while to realise it really was me,” she said.

“I was absolutely astonished and just speechless. It was the most incredible coincidence.”

Mrs Forrester intends to trace the painting’s whereabouts over the last half century.

“The painting is by the well-known Fife artist T. S. Halliday and it was done 51 years ago at his house in Wormit,” she said.

Mrs Forrester added, “I was a neighbour of his and was at art college when he invited me to sit for him.

“I often wondered what had happened to it, but it was just amazing to stumble across it by chance.”

She said the portrait will act as a poignant reminder of life as an unmarried youth.

“If we had not decided to take a detour I would probably never have come across the portrait,” she said.

“The only problem now is where to hang it!”

T. S. Halliday was a painter and sculptor in the area during the 1950s and ’60s.

His work was well-known to visitors of the then Dundee art gallery and museum. He also taught at Harris Academy in Perth Road for many years.