Pop's Art

Artist Johnny Hamilton is using his work to help celebrate and revive his home town.

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Resurrecting a teenage hobby during the pandemic has resulted in a new career for Johnny Hamilton, as well as helping to breathe fresh life into his home town and even catching the attention of a few A-list celebrities along the way.

Speaking to IHIL the County Down artist explains, 'I suppose it goes way back really. I did art at school and loved it but then life moved on and took me in a different direction. It was the Covid pandemic that steered me back to drawing and reminded me how much fun and pleasure I got from it. Although I hadn't drawn in years it all came back to me quite quickly.

'I drew and drew - there was nothing else to do - and then I remembered how I used to love spray paint so used that as my medium. I quickly realised portraits were the best fit for me because I love the connection they give you to someone. I discovered through the commissions I was doing that you could draw a face and capture a likeness in a way that could really move the recipient. I'd done a few drawings of deceased relatives for their loved ones and it would bring tears to their eyes. It felt like such an honour and a privilege.'

Operating under the moniker 'Jossiepops', Johnny moved from individual commissions to depicting local legends such as Carl Frampton and Gary Lightbody. These pieces were a big hit with the public and, thanks to the power of social media, the subjects themselves were able to view them. So impressed was Frampton that he visited Johnny's Bangor home to sign prints and requested the original for a charity auction.

'I was blown away,' comments Hamilton. 'Up until that point I'd sort of been messing around but that gave me validation and I suppose made me think that maybe my art was of a good enough standard. From then onwards people were liking and sharing my work online and buying the originals and I remember thinking 'this could really be a thing'.