Talented Whalley artist captures a moment in time for 'Paint the Town' competition

Judges of this year’s one-day art competition, hosted by The Bureau Centre for the Arts and supported by Blackburn BID, were impressed with the painting created by Anthony Platt, from Whalley.

The painting captures the isolation felt by the older generation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Anthony said: “I wanted to capture a moment in time and illustrate how the pandemic affected people, especially older people. The elderly were one of the worst affected. My mum felt quite isolated, so I wanted to get that across.”

Anthony wanted to concentrate on the area near the old cinema building, so he took a photo of the area and an image from the internet of an elderly woman as inspiration for his final piece.

He added: “I painted the picture at home using water based oil on MDF board. It took about four hours in total.”

Anthony, who works for HMRC enjoys painting as a hobby.

He said: “I have entered Paint The Town for a couple of years now and it’s always a great event. I have been painting more this year and have enjoyed the hobby from a young age.

“Anybody can paint, and anybody can be creative – you just need to have a go. There are lots of different styles that you can try.”