Julio Cesar with his painting of Captain Sir Tom Moore

AN artist who lost his father, grandmother and uncle in the last year has launched a project to celebrate the elderly.

Julio Cesar, of Liverpool Road, discovered painting as part of a rehabilitation project in prison as he served a two-and-a-half year sentence in 2012 for grievous bodily harm.

He has since been nominated for several awards for his work and one of his paintings was the leading piece for an exhibition at the Southbank curated by poet Benjamin Zephaniah.

‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Mr Cesar

In the past year his father Fabio, 69, his grandmother Carmen, 93, and his uncle Edgar, 68, all died in Colombia, where Mr Cesar is originally from, but due to travel restrictions he was not able to pay his respects to them.

He then painted a portrait in honour of his grandmother that has inspired him to launch a project that will honour the elderly and he is calling on members of the public to submit images of their elderly relatives to him to paint.

‘Man and Best Friend’ by Mr Cesar

The 50-year-old said: “I don’t think the elderly are appreciated enough, there’s been too broad of a gap between young and old. I want to now honour the generations who have given so much to us.”

He has completed around five paintings so far including one of Captain Sir Tom Moore.

He will not charge anyone for the paintings.

To submit a picture of your loved one you can contact Mr Cesar by email at julio@juliocesarts.com