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Award nomination for Jack's stunning talent
A TALENTED young artist with an incredible eye for detail has been presented with a top award.
A TALENTED young artist with an incredible eye for detail has been presented with a top award.Jack Bainbridge (16), a pupil at Abbey College in Ramsey, has been short-listed as a finalist for a Big Skill Award 2009, a new venture created in partnership with BBC East and the Learning and Skills Council.
Jack, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, has been nominated for the award after producing a series of art pieces.
He only started painting portraits to help him overcome difficulties recognising facial expressions, a difficulty encountered by many people with Asperger’s Syndrome, but since then has earned a number of commissions, including designing a new sculpture outside his school after teachers recognised his talent.
He has also submitted his own design for a commemorative coin for the 2012 Olympic games.
Today, he said he was thrilled to be in the running for the award.
He said: “I was very pleased to be nominated for the award.
“Art has been my life, and I hope to be an established artist in the future.
“After I have finished my GCSEs I am going to work towards a National Diploma in Art before hopefully going on to Slade School of Fine Art and then the Royal Academy.”
One of the running themes through much Jack’s work is imagery of hands.
The sculpture outside the school, called Reach for the Stars, will see a giant hand reaching out of the ground, with a staircase attached to it. Each stair will represent one area of learning, including English, maths and science.
Jack said: “I think hands can tell you a lot about a person. And as an artist my hands are obviously very important to me.
“I also go to a lot of art exhibitions, and get inspiration from other artists.
“I love to paint, and rather than sit playing computer games, I will often paint for hours at a time.”
The teenager is also a top rugby player, playing flanker for Cambridgeshire under 17s.
Today, Abbey College head Wayne Birks said: “I am not an art expert, but you can see just how talented Jack is.
“We have a fantastic art department here who have really helped develop Jack’s skills, and we are sure he has a great future ahead of him.”
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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