A Kilwinning man who ‘packed in’ art school after a year will open his first art show in Glasgow next weekend.
Julian McLaughlan, 23, unwittingly launched his art career after posting his paintings to social media.
The abstract pieces that express emotions such as anxiety caught the eye of Spaces in Glasgow.
Julian said: “I’ve always done art and when I packed in the college I didn’t want to give it up.
“After posting some paintings to my Facebook, I didn’t take notice of the comment offering a launch, I thought it was spam at first. But then when the company reached out again and explained the art was unlike anything they’ve seen before, we set up a meeting and it just went from there.
“I’m excited and nervous for the launch. This sort of thing doesn’t happen, especially to someone from Kilwinning.”
The Bridgend Motors worker mainly focused on portraiture work until he found his niche.
He said: “I left Ayrshire College because my gran passed away while I was studying there and it must have knocked me off track.
“Then I found a new love of abstract painting.
“I took inspiration from the emotion I was feeling on that particular day.
“I have anxiety and this is my way of coping with it.
“A lot of people are struggling at the minute and can relate to the art.”
Julian’s art also caught the eye of artist Steven Brown who shared his original post of the paintings.
Talented Julian will be supported on the day by family and his partner Amy Neill.
His open event art launch will be hosted at Spaces in Glasgow’s West Regent Street on Saturday, September 28, at 5pm.
It will showcase 10 original artworks by the North Ayrshire talent.
