Wrexham artist paints faces of people in community to remember local ‘legends’

An artist from Wrexham has been painting portraits of homeless people and local “legends” to remember and showcase the individuals who have made their mark on the community.

Ady Medcalf, 74, said he undertook volunteer work with a homeless charity in 2017, where he started painting portraits from photographs of homeless people in the area to tell their story and show they “have a face”.

The grandfather-of-four then began painting “the characters in Wrexham”, some of whom have died, in order to display and commemorate the “well-known faces” in the Welsh city.

“I think it just chronicles the people that are in Wrexham, the characters in Wrexham,” Mr Medcalf, who is retired and worked in a factory for 18 years, told the PA news agency.

“I started off volunteering for a homeless charity and I got to know the homeless people in Wrexham.

“I started painting them as a way of showing that the person sitting in the alleyway, or sitting in the shop window, has a face, as people tend to look away from them when they pass.

He added that painting the faces of those who were homeless allowed others in the community to “get to know them”.

“It was interesting because they’re not the people that you think they are,” he said.

“They’ve all got a story but some people don’t want to listen – but I listened, I sat and painted them and I enjoyed it.

“People that have passed away through drug use, for example, are remembered and it’s good.”

The latest portrait in his ongoing project, which he shared online on Friday, featured the face of a well-known DJ named Mark who died earlier this year, allowing those on the Facebook group to remember him and pay tribute.

“I like to tell a story about them, like Mark, who was a well-known DJ and many, many people knew him,” he said.

“It’s a way of remembering people.

Mr Medcalf, who kept a pub for six years, will also paint those who frequent the local watering holes, whom he called “the regulars of Wrexham”.

“I’ve known them for years, maybe I don’t know their names but I know their faces, and it’s nice to sit down and chat to people,” he said.

“I paint who I can as much as I can, when I can get my hands on a photograph of somebody.

“I find that when I’m painting, all the troubles drop off my shoulders and I get immersed in what I’m doing.”