Creatives are used to the sniping of critics – but when the feedback for your latest work is that it’s a load of old rubbish, it’s not always a complaint.
Artist James Owen Thomas collected discarded items from the side of the A1 at Wentbridge in West Yorkshire, alongside National Highways workers.
He chopped them up before putting them on a canvas, painting them for a piece that celebrates nature and wildlife – and warns of the dangers posed to animals by roadside litter.
The 23-year-old, who has been litter picking since the age of five, suggests it may be his autism that makes him keen to clean, saying while childhood nature walks calmed him, litter back then was upsetting.
