Wetherby pensioner's art exhibition helps to change the lives of 4,100 children in need around the world
An 82-year-old amateur artist from Wetherby has helped to provide more than 4,000 hours of care for youngsters in need by holding an exhibition to showcase his favourite oil paintings.
Ken Pipe held an open house event featuring 200 of his favourite pieces of artwork.
The paintings were all Ken’s takes on the work of the old masters.
He said: “I had always admired French impressionist paintings and always wished I could own one. But obviously they were too expensive so, as the next best thing, I decided to create my own versions of them.
“And now I have a huge collection of my-style Cezannes, Sisleys, Gauguins and de Lempickas.”
Ken’s children and grandchildren partnered with the global charity B1G1, so that each of the 200 pieces of artwork he exhibited also provided 20 days of help for 20 children in need, making a total of at least 4,000 days of help.
Ken and the people who attended the exhibition chose how many of those 4,000 days of help are in the form of medical care for children in Ukraine, shelter for homeless children in Vietnam, musical education for underprivileged children in the UK, necessities for babies in Kenya and access to a bathroom for children in Tanzania.
Ken’s son Steve, of Boston Spa, said: “We did that because he has always been there to help make our lives better, so it is lovely to be able to celebrate his beautiful art and personality in a way that also makes life better for people in need across the world.”