Never mind the Pollocks... Sheeran puts down guitar and picks up a paintbrush

Ed Sheeran, the singer-songwriter who has dominated British music for the last 15 years with his catchy melodies, has decided to switch the recording booth for the artist's studio.

- Lanre Bakare

Sheeran, who grew up in a household with two creative parents, is teaming up with Damien Hirst's company Heni to sell prints of his Jackson Pollock-esque paintings to raise money for his foundation.

The prints, which are being sold for just over £900 each, are made from large canvases the singer created during downtime after touring and between recording sessions.

Sheeran said: "I started painting at the end of my Divide Tour in 2019 and it's something that I've used as a creative outlet ever since. When I was growing up, both of my parents worked in art, so I've naturally always been interested in it, and I always enjoyed studying art at school." Created using household paint, the colourful canvases - dubbed the Cosmic Carpark Paintings - will be displayed in an exhibition at the Heni Gallery in central London from 11 July to 1 August.

"I was back and forth on tour last year, and I used a lot of my downtime in the UK to paint. I'd run to a disused car park in Soho each morning, paint, then run home and I'd do that daily until I headed back out on tour again," he added.