A young artist who was badly bullied at school has drawn on his experiences to create artwork selling at more than 1,000 a painting alongside such icons as Andy Warhol and Banksy.
Steve Farmer, 22, of Shepton Mallet, Somerset, regularly suffered cuts, bruises and black eyes and once even had his wrist broken by bullies jealous of his talent.
Steve's self-confidence plummeted and he was put into the bottom group for all subjects – including art – before his parents finally moved him to another school.
But he has turned his brushes with the bullies into a successful career with fans paying more than 1,000 a time for the striking paintings.
He said today: "I hope my success will be some inspiration to all the kids who get bullied at school.
"It's important to stick to what you are good at and never give up. I felt a lot of anger towards the people who bullied me at school and I think that comes out in my work."
Confidence started to build
Steve was tormented on a daily basis when he was a pupil at the Blue School in Wells, Somerset.
He said: "It was a nightmare for me. Pretty much every day I came home from school with cuts and bruises and I often had black eyes.
"I think they picked on me because I was quiet and timid and I really liked drawing. The bullying got worse until one day some boys attacked me and my wrist was broken.
"That was when my parents decided to move me to another school. After that, my confidence started to build up and I went to art college, and from there things have gone from strength to strength."
Steve's mum Mel said: "At first we thought Steve might be exaggerating, like some kids do, but it got beyond a joke.
"We had a call saying he had sprained his wrist in class. They took him to the local cottage hospital but then we were asked to come and pick him up and take him to the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
"Doctors there realised it was broken and he had to have it re-set a week later. He said it happened when he had been pushed off a stool in class.
"His self-confidence was at rock bottom but he has always stuck at his art and we are all so proud of him."
Raw energy
Steve emerged from Northern Radstock College with a degree in fine art and began producing wild paintings that attracted the eye of Bath gallery owner Richard Mauger.
He invited Steve to submit some of his work in an exhibition alongside Warhol and Banksy at the Mauger Gallery in Bath earlier this year.
His paintings were a hit and he has since sold 10 works at £1,000 a pop, with fans from as far away as the US snapping up his work.
Mr Mauger said: "Steve's art has a raw energy that stems from a deep, fiery passion for painting and an even deeper passion for communicating with the world at large.
"When he showed his work to us at the Bath gallery earlier this year, we immediately felt he had something worth exploring. He is an exciting artist to follow."
This is interesting - very interesting that his parents didn't realize the extent of the bullying. I wonder if there is something gender based here - the idea that boys should "stick up for themselves" or "be tough" in ways that girls aren't expected to be...
ReplyDeleteThen again, I think that the bullying patterns of boys and girls might be very different. It sounds like this man's experience had a lot to do with physical intimidation and abuse in addition to meanness; often with girls I think the bullying is about emotional attacks.