Ken paints a picture of past lives

Apr 24 2008 by Claire Rees, Rhymney Valley Express

DISCOVERING how your ancestors lived is a pursuit that demands a great deal of time and effort.

But one Rhymney Valley man has made the challenge even more difficult – by making a portrait out of every branch of his family tree.

Ystrad Mynach artist Ken Burrows, of Davies Street, has already created four oil paintings as part of his quest to record his birth-line on his mother’s side, on canvas.

The first one, of his great, great, great grandmother Mary Ann Kerslake, dates back to the 1860s and forms part of an exhibition at Nelson Library which closes next Friday, May 2.

Seventy-one-year-old Ken, who took up painting after retiring as a local government worker, said: “I wanted to do it for the grandchildren.

“I reckon if I do four a year, by the time I’m 230 I’ll be nearly finished!”

The exhibition will also include some of his historical paintings of the Valley in the 1930s.

For more information, go to www.kensgallery.co.uk