Mr Matthewson, who lives in Sheffield, said: “I want to create because you never know when your time is up.”
He suffered the stroke at the age of 41 following a series of spinal surgeries.
“It was a numbness on the side, that was the first thing that came along,” he said.
“I felt incredibly cold. The way I describe it to friends is, it’s like being touched by death.”
The stroke not only changed his outlook on life, it also affected his speech and his motor skills.
Despite the setback, Mr Matthewson said he never once thought it would be the end of his art career and instead accepted he would need to learn how to draw with his other hand.
“I knew I could do it because of the left hand, but you’ve just got to channel it through to the right hand,” he said.
“What was more frustrating at the time was that I developed a really bad stammer and I’d be trying to get the words out and because I couldn’t, I was getting angry and frustrated in my head.”
