Workers honoured in new art exhibition

Danni, a recently qualified nurse at Bedford Hospital, and Jean, a biology teacher, have been immortalised in colour pencil pictures

An artist who spent a year making 36 portraits of people doing their jobs said he wanted to celebrate how "diverse and vibrant" Bedford was.

David Lewry, from Milton Ernest, said his project Bedford at Work showed people "just doing their jobs".

The artworks, made with coloured pencils, will be displayed at The Basement at Bunyan Gallery, Bedford, from this Tuesday until Saturday.

Mr Lewry, 72, said he wanted to honour people like farm workers, dog groomers, funeral directors, and hairdressers who were "just ordinary people".

David Lewry said he had taught painting and drawing on more than 30 cruises around the world including a trip up the Amazon

The artist, who trained as a botanical artist at the Eden Project in Cornwall, said he had worked in the profession for 30 years.

"The idea came during Covid, as my wife, Liz, is a carer and she had worked long hours in very difficult circumstances," he said.

"It occurred to me that people were carrying out their normal working lives and just doing their jobs.

"I just wanted to show ordinary people going about their work in their local area.

"I came across Mel, in a Sharnbrook farm shop, and she worked all the way through the pandemic and she had a lovely smiling face and I thought it would be lovely to do a drawing of her."

A picture of Mel, who works in a Sharnbrook farm shop, was the first picture David drew for the series

He said each image was created from a photo and he approached a number of people who he thought would be interested in taking part.

"I hope everyone appreciates just what a diverse and vibrant community Bedford is," he said.

"It gets a lot of bad press, as a lot of towns do, but there's a lot of people working hard all around the town and villages, it's important we celebrate that as much as the headline services."

Lorraine, a regional co-ordinator and trainer for Canine Partners in Bedford, and David, a volunteer courier for the NHS blood bank were happy to be pictured

He said he chose many professions including a market trader, postal worker, dog groomer, charity worker, funeral director, army padre, mechanic, and hairdresser.

"It's been challenging, as sometimes I had to explain the idea but when I showed them some examples they were quite happy to take part.

"It just shows them in their working environment."

Khalid, a Bromham pharmacist, and Constantinos, head brewer at Brew Point in Bedford feature