Tik Tok Hit At 92 Years Old!
Image credit: Robert Rose
Robert Rose, who has never received any formal art training had enjoyed painting “strictly as a hobby” until the Covid lockdown – now he is enjoying a late-in-life career as a landscape artist. “I was captured in my own home so decided to produce some paintings – it kept me sane,” he said. For granddaughter Joanna Menzies, her grandad’s artistic activities came as a surprise and she posted a short video of him at work in his shed on Tik Tok.
“I put the video on and the next day it had two million views.” Mr Rose said: “It made wholly amusing reading – there were three or four thousand comments – they were asking ‘can you be our grandad?’ “It’s all part of the fun and keeps us entertained.”
Mainly using acrylics, Robert paints scenes in and around his local area “I’d go down, get a sketch and take some photos, and then on the days when the weather’s not so good, I can spend the time painting.” He also paints town and coastal views from the South West Coast Path and other areas where he has previously indulged his passion for long-distance walking.
“It keeps me fully occupied and helps the brain. It’s better than getting up and spending the day just looking at the telly – its good for me personally.”
Painting With a Purpose
Also proving age is no barrier meet Jean Banas, a 92-year-old abstract expressionist and a major surprise to many critics and collectors who make the ageist and sexist assumption that her dynamic and energetic paintings were created by a much younger man. She works quickly, sometimes using multiple brushes on two canvases at once, and isn’t afraid to rework a piece. Getting totally lost in her work Jean says she tries to get out of her own way and let the creativity flow through her. “In the beginning, I paint really fast. I totally get lost in my work. After a while, I step back, begin to think a bit more, and the painting starts speaking to me. Sometimes I want to do my own thing, but the painting says, ‘Nope!’” “Nope” is something she never hears from her 95-year-old husband, Raymond. The two have been married for more than 70 years and live alone in a house that Raymond built. He still makes the frames for Jean’s paintings. In the studio, Jean fights the war of art alone. She loads her brushes with bright colors but doesn’t paint what she calls “pretty pictures.” She’s a non-objective artist whose work in recent years often has a social objective. “I’m affected by books I’ve read, movies I’ve seen and experiences I’ve had,” she says. Jean Banas has never painted for recognition but admits that this later-in-life attention feels pretty good. “This is just so overwhelming to me. Having openings, giving interviews, recording videos, and presenting art talks. It’s going to take me a while to come down-to-earth, I think.”
Watch this inspiring 4 minute video about Jean, her how and why she paints.
Love Is The Essence Of Art
Dasic Fernández is a Chiliean born street artist based in New York. His colorful graffiti street murals have received worldwide acclaim. Fernández’s creations are the result of a self-discovery journey in constant development.
By the age of 14, fascinated by the street culture from the 90’s Chilean streets, he found a way to merge with art and become one through painting. With a high political and social influence in his work, and an architecture school background, his art reflects his vision of the world with strong emotions, allowing him to express his experiences through mural, canvas and floor paintings. Now, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, New York, Miami, and Riyadh are Dasic Fernandez’s playground for expressing love and art.
“Love, above every feeling, is the essence of art and humanity. This journey begins and ends with love”
Click on the link below to listen to Dasic Fernández talk about his murals around the world.
2025 National Geographic's Pictures
Image Credit – Maíra Erlich – Shoulder to Lean On
From thousands of images made by National Geographic’s photographers all around the world, they have chosen the ones that moved and inspired them the most in their collection 2025 | The Pictures Of The Year
Shoulder To Lean On a photograph taken in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil by Maíra Erlich is one of these choices.
Neighborhoods throughout the coastal city of Maceió are sinking into the ground after decades of rock salt mining. The destruction has displaced tens of thousands of residents like Damião Carlos da Silva, who was forced into temporary housing nearby after losing his home. He finds solace in the precious moments of life, such as this one shared with his pet chick.
Click on the link below to be moved and inspired too!