\n Alex is also autistic.\n<\/p>\n
\n “He’s very, very caring with his autism,” said Sue Meade, Alex’s mother.\n<\/p>\n
\n “If he picks up on somebody that’s lost somebody, or lost an animal, he’ll do a painting for them.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex’s painting of his late granddad next to the reference photo he used (Image: Alex Jackson)\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex decided to gift Thyme for Tea caf\u00e9 a painting because of how safe they make him feel when he goes there with his dad.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Jane, who runs the caf\u00e9, is a great friend, and I go there every Sunday with my dad,” Alex told me.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It was a photo I took a few years ago and I decided to turn it into a painting.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex’s first painting – his sister’s dog Bruce – the improvement in Alex’s skill between this painting and the later paintings is clearly visible (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n
\n Jane explained to me that on a previous visit, Alex had been asking her what she would like him to paint for her.\n<\/p>\n
\n She settled on the owl – her favourite animal – and Alex quickly set to work.\n<\/p>\n
\n “She was gushing when I gave it to her,” Alex told me.\n<\/p>\n
\n This isn’t an unusual reaction to receiving one of Alex’s gifts. He received similar thanks after painting the husband of a close family friend who had died.\n<\/p>\n
\n Wendy Muldowney, the friend in question, said: “It was a beautiful act of friendship, painting the portrait of my late husband.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It brings comfort to our family and keeps his spirit close.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We’re deeply grateful.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Sue told me that Wendy still struggles to look at the painting of her husband because of how lifelike it is.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex has only been painting for three years – not that you’d be able to tell – and has already become very proficient at producing lifelike replicas of real photographs.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex painted his meeting with Rick Parfitt Jr, son of Status Quo lead singer Rick Parfitt (Image: Alex Jackson)\n<\/p>\n
\n “My first one was of my sister’s old dog, Bruce, but I’ve got a lot better since then!” he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex paints using a service called ‘Masterpiece by Numbers’, whereby photographs are turned into stencils for the artist to follow.\n<\/p>\n
\n Even with this help, the process is not easy, as Alex’s sister, Erika Jackson, could attest – Alex first got into it when she couldn’t finish the painting of Bruce herself because of how difficult it was.\n<\/p>\n
\n It’s hard not to sympathise with Erika here – the brushstrokes are so fine, and interwoven with such complexity, they’re almost impossible to make out unless you stand close.\n<\/p>\n
\n The precision required is remarkable.\n<\/p>\n
\n Close up of the brushstrokes on Alex’s picture of his granddad (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n
\n “I do have a very good eye for detail because of my autism,” Alex said. “They usually take me a couple of days.”\n<\/p>\n
\n “Weeks!” Sue interjected, “weeks, not days!”\n<\/p>\n
\n “He’s got no sense of time,” Sue explained.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another hobby of Alex’s is drawing and painting football team logos – a hobby he takes seriously enough that he’s filled two thick folders with his drawings.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex is currently working on drawing the Birmingham City crest (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n
\n “I trace them freehand from the computer,” Alex said.\n<\/p>\n
\n This is, again, surprising, given how precise the lines are. They look like they’ve been made using ruler and protractor, not like they’ve been traced directly from a curved computer screen.\n<\/p>\n
\n “He’s so precious about them. Whenever I go into his room, it’s like stay away! Stay away from the drawings!” Sue said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex’s drawing of the Bolton Wanderer’s crest – his favourite team (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex has plenty of time to spare to work on his art, as he’s currently unable to find a job. His mum says many places are unwilling to employ people they know have disabilities, which makes it extremely difficult.\n<\/p>\n
\n “It’s an absolute nightmare,” said Sue, “and all he does is desperately want to work.”\n<\/p>\n
\n He’s previously worked as a Christmas temp at M&S, and currently works the kiosk at Bolton Wanderers on matchdays, but other than this, he has no paid work.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n “We’re trying to find something at a supermarket, behind the tills – that’d be perfect,” said Sue.\n<\/p>\n
\n “So rather than just staying in every day playing FIFA, he puts his time into the art.”\n<\/p>\n
\n “I do also take commissions!” Alex told me, after I proposed that he start selling his work.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex has produced eight paintings in total – each time spending \u00a380 on the required equipment, not including the cost for framing the completed pictures.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex has also completed several paintings of his favourite band, Status Quo.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex’s painting of Status Quo, another of his earlier paintings (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n
\n “I’ve been to see them 30 times now – the first time I went to see them I was four.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex has met the band on four occasions. Alex even had the opportunity to gift one of his paintings to Rick Parfitt Jr – son of the late Status Quo lead singer Rick Parfitt.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex gave a painting of the late Status Quo lead singer Rick Parfitt to Rick Parfitt’s son – Rick Parfitt Jr (Image: Alex Jackson)\n<\/p>\n
\n The painting features Rick Parfitt Jr with his father. Alex decided to paint it for Parfitt Jr after his father had passed away, again giving it as a free gift.\n<\/p>\n
\n “They even recognise you when they see you in the crowd now, don’t they Al,” Sue said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another passion of Alex’s is football. He’s a former Bolton Wanderers season ticket holder, and currently works on the kiosk on matchdays.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex working on one of his football club crests (Image: Dan Dougherty)\n<\/p>\n
\n “The ultimate would be to help make shirts for Bolton Wanderers – doing the printing,” Sue said, “because he’s so precise.”\n<\/p>\n
\n I would be a neat way of combining his artistic talents, love of football, and growing need for paid work.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Even if I did get a job, I’d still want to do the kiosk on weekends, and I’d still find time to do the art,” said Alex – “I like to keep to my routines.”\n<\/p>\n
\n On Thursdays, he also plays football with local team AFC Masters – a team run for children and adults with disabilities. Alex plays in midfield.\n<\/p>\n
\n “I’ve got a good first touch,” Alex told me, “good vision as well.”\n<\/p>\n
\n “So you’re the brains of the team?” I said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alex just laughed, although he didn’t disagree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This painting currently hangs, amongst other owl memorabilia, in Westhoughton’s Thyme for Tea Caf\u00e9, a gift from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-315455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-design","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}