See genuine fakes

John Myatt will be presenting his latest exhibition on Friday October 2 in an event which has been jointly organised by the Evergreen Art Cafe in Sheaf Street, Daventry and Fawsley Hall Hotel and Spa. The latter will host the exhibition.

The event will give people the chance to meet the artist and hear his incredible story. Any pieces sold during the event will receive a signed, personal dedication from the artist.

John said: “I got into being a painter because I was good at it. It was something which my parents encouraged as well which was remarkable at the time as it was the period went parents normally tried to persuade you to have a sensible career.”

It was from there that he developed a talent for painting reproductions of works by Piccaso and Rembrandt.

John added: “You start by going to a museum and going at looking at it. It is better to start there rather than looking at the illustration in a book.

“From there, you look at how the brush hits the paper. You also look at his or her life. Their lovers, their date of birth, date of their death, where they lived and so on. From there, you start to get into their mind set and it all stems from there.”

However it was a talent that got him into trouble. John was sentenced to one year in prison for a conspiracy to defraud and was released the following June after serving four months of his sentence. It was after a regular customer of his was able to resell his work as the genuine masterpieces.

While you might expect that John would be reticent to talk about the period, he is open and posted a full account of the incident on the website.

John added: “I wasn’t going to paint after the incident, but it was a phone call from the Detective who was asking how I was getting on.

“I told him I was off to the job centre and he said nonsense, I should be painting. I sat there and thought if I was good at it, there should be no reason why I shouldn’t be doing it.

“I see it almost like a tribute act. It won’t be exactly the same but the costumes and the amplifiers will be the same.”

John has worked with art publishers Washington Green Fine Art since 2006 and aims to bring new talent from around the world to the contemporary art market.

People visiting can enjoy a champagne reception, three course dinner and a charity auction which will raise funds for the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, Pete Spencer’s Helping Hands Memorial Fund and a local cancer charity. Entrance to this event is £65.

There is a further opportunity to see his work at an Art and Afternoon Tea event on Saturday October 3 between 3pm and 5pm.

Visit www.handpickedhotels.co.uk/fawsleyhall to book tickets for the event