A YORK artist has created a portrait of a top 1980s popstar after her previous work came to the attention of megastar Cliff Richard.

Shany Hagan, who has lived in York for more than 20 years, was commissioned by DJ Mike Read, known for hosting Top of the Pops, to create a portrait of 80s icon Limahl from Kajagoogoo.

This was in celebration of Limahl reaching number one on Read’s radio show – The Heritage Chart.

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According to Shany: “Limahl is familiar with me as I’ve done so much work with Mike in the past and he’s signed some of my work before.

“Mike saw my artwork online through a friend when I started painting during Covid. After that, it snowballed – one star after another.

“When I first started painting, Mike Read was my first commission – he asked me to do a jacket for Cliff Richard for his 80th - I didn’t know it was for Cliff at the time as I thought it was for a fan."

She continued: “As well as my painting for Limahl, I did a jacket for a show Mike was doing - That Was Then, This Is Now - and it had all the 80s stars who are back in the charts. I said why don’t you get all the stars to sign it at the end of the show then we’ll auction it off for Parkinson's UK.

“Cliff Richard handed it over and whilst I don’t have an exact figure, I'm told it raised well over £30,000 with about 40 massive signatures from the stars of the time.”

Through her charity work, Shany has also been recognised in an iHeartRadio competition for her contributions to various good causes.