Lottery scratch cards used in work of artist, 16

  • Published
Artwork showing Swaledale sheepImage source, James Owen Thomas
Image caption,

James Owen Thomas uses discarded scratch cards in his work

An artist has produced a series of images all made from discarded scratch cards.

James Thomas, 16, said he had the idea for the works after seeing a card floating in a puddle.

His mosaic-style collages feature scenes from the Yorkshire Dales, where he now lives, and his native East Sussex.

The teenage artist said as far as he is aware he is the only person doing this kind of work.

Image source, James Owen Thomas
Image caption,

His work features wildlife, but he has also composed landscape images and other subjects

"Four years ago, I came across a discarded scratch card floating in a puddle of water," he said.

"I then began to see how scratch cards were littering our streets and parks and thought I have to do something about this, so started picking them up."

You might also like:

Image source, James Owen Thomas
Image caption,

The teenage artist said some pieces can take months to complete

The youngster, who said he is inspired by David Hockney, now has thousands of scratch cards, which he keeps for future works.

He now plans to produce an image of his great grandfather, which has been a challenge because of the difficulties of finding cards that provide a good match for human skin tone.

Image source, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Image caption,

Some of his work is currently on show at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority offices in Bainbridge

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.