Portraits of six York "heroes" are being unveiled for this year's Residents' Festival, reports MAXINE GORDON

YORK artist Sue Clayton has spent the last 12 months on a project to celebrate the city's heroes.

It was very much a collaborative effort, because she asked members of the public to nominate who they would like her to paint.

The end results are now on show in the cafe area of York Explore, the central library in Museum Street.

Panto legend Berwick Kaler is probably the best well known of the six – and was the final painting Sue completed to make her deadline for this weekend's Residents' Festival.

Sue has painted him in full costume – dressed as a circus big top, with a Wagon Wheel in his hand.

"I left Berwick until the end, and if I admit it, I was a bit awestruck! I was very pleased he agreed to see me as it was a week before the first performance of the pantomime and they were behind schedule because of his operation." Berwick, 70, underwent a heart bypass surgery last year. Sue reveals he was a popular choice among the public – all the more so because this year marks his 40th anniversary in the Theatre Royal panto.

"I wanted to show him in full exuberance, and there is a feeling that he is coming out at you."

In total contrast, her portrait of local singer and charity fundraiser and campaigner "Big" Ian Donaghy is a paper cut, where the materials tell the story.

There are five head shots of Ian, frontman of popular party band Huge, which reflect the many aspects of his life. Not only is he a singer, but he has also written books about dementia and bereavement and organises the annual Xmas Presence for alone OAPs and the Night To Remember dementia fundraiser. Sue has used press cuttings about Ian's ventures as well as a music score as the background to the cutout portraits.

Ian is delighted with the end result, and is full of praise for Sue's work. "It's brilliant. I love how she has incorporated different parts of my life into the art work."

One of the most challenging pieces was the portrait of the Suzanne Asquith, the York PC who was awarded the Gold award for Inspiration at the North Yorkshire Police Annual Awards and a BEM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her work with young people. Suzanne died in December 2016 at the age of 44 from cancer. Sue didn't get to meet Suzanne, and relied on photographs, as well as a poem she wrote that was read out at the funeral and which is incorporated into the painting.

Sue held her breath when she presented the finished piece to Suzanne's husband Mick. "He loved it," she said. "He told me I had captured her eyes."

The other three heroes are Mary Chapman, of animal charity Nuzzlets; York Against Cancer co-founder Steve Leveson, and Andrew Fair, who works at Sainsbury’s at Monks Cross, and was a popular choice among the public.

A poster form of each painting along with the story behind each work is on display from this weekend in the library.

The original works will be displayed for the first time during York Open Studios in April and then in the main corridor at York Hospital from May to September.

You can see more of Sue's work in an exhibition at Pocklington Arts Centre from February 1 to March 23, where she is displaying portraits of young people with Down's Syndrome (Sue's son James has Down's), alongside work by York award-winning photographer David Kenward who has Down's Syndrome and has a passion for wildlife and wild places.