Louie puts Mayor in picture

LOUIE presents his painting to the Mayor

YOUNG artist Louie Daley has hosted his own exhibition and painted a portrait of the Mayor of Oldham — not bad going for a 10-year-old.

Louie, from Greenfield, has tuberous sclerosis, which causes benign tumours to grow around his heart and brain and triggers epileptic fits.

He also suffers from dyspraxia, which affects his ability to relate messages from the brain into actions.

But he discovered he had a flair for art when he started lessons at Pink Aardvark Projects in Mossley and he was soon feeling more confident.

When Louie hosted his first exhibition at the White Hart, Lydgate, his art teacher, Julie Taylor, invited the Mayor of Oldham, Councillor Shoab Akhtar, to open the event.

The Mayor was so impressed with Louie’s work that he commissioned him to paint a portrait for his parlour at the civic centre.

He said: “I was really impressed with Louie’s art when I went to the exhibition so I asked him to do something for me.

“I really enjoy championing the work of young people in the borough when they are so talented. I am very impressed with the painting. I think it is magnificent.”