THIS butcher is like a real-life Francis BACON painting amazing celebrity
portraits using CHICKEN and LAMB bones.
Dad-of-two Tony Dunphy has turned his work into art using the unusual material
to put meat on the bones of paintings.
Tony, from Moseley, Birmingham, can take up to a month and a half to complete
his paintings which can measure up to four feet high.
For his latest piece – a tribute to soul legend Amy Winehouse – Tony combined
gloss paint with the bones to create a remarkable image.
Despite his unusual palette Tony said he draws his inspiration from pop art
pioneer Andy Warhol.
His art has already attracted buyers and Tony, who works at Johnstans
Butchers, in Kings Heath, Birmingham, said he had always loved drawing.
Tony, 51, who lives with his wife Margaret and their 15-year-old twins, said
he had first noticed the artistic property in the bones as he worked in the
butchers.
He said: “They add texture and a 3D element to the painting, the shape of the
bones means you can almost view the painting from any angle.
“It’s something different I think and I’ve already sold some pieces after
someone spotted one I left in my wife’s shop.
“I have always loved drawing, when I was a kid we didn’t have heating in the
house but I would go upstairs and draw wearing gloves.”
Tony said the secret to his art was often to find materials in the unlikeliest
of places.
He said: “The painting is made using gloss paint, so I just asked around my
friends if they had any left over, it didn’t matter what colour it was.
“My twins are good at drawing too, but these days there are so many
distractions with phones and computers.”