After meeting and painting Arek Hirsh, I was inspired to paint many more Holocaust Survivors.
Over the last three years, I have drawn and painted portraits of them from life and photos.
They all have their own unique and inspiring story of how they survived the most horrendous conditions, from being hidden under nunnery floorboards to swapping queues one going to the gas chambers and the other to a camp, or by playing an instrument to be allowed in a particular camp Orchestra.
The stories are such powerful messages and reminders of such terrible times. We need to remember history to stop these horrific Tyrants and Dictators destroying lives again.
This, for me, sums up what portraiture is all about, with its inspiring stories of people's lives and circumstances.
