Robert is lucky winner of original painting of Paisley

Dec 28 2011 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

PROUD Buddie Robert Greenfield was delighted to be told he had won a very special painting ... for he is one of the people in it.

Garry Byars, who runs the Sunshine Gallery at the In-Shops section of The Paisley Centre, has been busy creating four original works of art and is giving people the chance to feature in one of the paintings and enter a prize draw to win it, in return for a donation for a worthy cause.

Once each painting is finished, one of the people in the picture will be picked at random to win it for themselves.

All of the money raised is going to the Renfrewshire Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, which Garry supports.

Lucky Robert, 78, of Castle Gait, Paisley, is the first winner and has taken home a painting of County Square.

He told the Paisley Daily Express: “I like coming into the Sunshine Gallery as there are some great paintings there. I saw Garry doing the County Square painting last month and I paid a donation to be included. You can see me near the back of the scene.

“I didn’t think anything more of it until I got a call to tell me I had won the painting.

“I’m delighted. I’ve got quite a few paintings in my house and this one will be going in my living room.”

The painting measures 16cm by 20cm and was expertly framed by the Frameworks team at Paisley-based Kibble Enterprise.

Around 98 people have been immortalised in Garry’s painting of County Square and he raised £155 in donations.

He has already started work on the next one – which features Paisley Cenotaph – and wants more people to pop into the gallery and get involved.

Garry said: “A lot of people have walked past me while I was working in the gallery and they asked what I was doing. After they were painted in, they would come back and ask to see the painting so they could point out to their friends where they were.

“This painting of County Square is the first of four I’m going to do and I’m looking for more people to come along and take part. The idea seems to have captured people’s imagination.”

For the other 97 people in the County Square painting who weren’t lucky enough to win, Garry has made up A4-size prints and cards of the image and these are available for sale in the gallery.