Published on: 10th June 2020
After seven weeks of painting brilliant portraits of our Pennine Care heroes, mysterious artist, known as ‘Bunksy’, has decided to hang up their stylus.
The anonymous painter has become a much-loved and welcomed presence on social media over the last couple of months, painting an incredible 99 portraits of staff from across all of our boroughs.
And after promising their 2000 followers a self-portrait for their 100th and final post, the retiring portraitist sneakily posted a cryptic painting of themselves relaxing on a sunny beach, with their anonymity well intact.
Reminiscing on their works, Bunksy said: “Painting portraits has been a really great way for me to get to know so many fabulous Pennine Care people. It’s been fun meeting some of you in the day job, with you having no clue that I moonlight as Bunksy after hours!
“I must say with all sincerity it has been tremendous fun.”
Bunksy was inspired to paint staff portraits through the #portraitsfornhsheroes campaign. While most artists involved in this campaign picked a small number of NHS staff to paint, Bunksy was “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of brilliant nominations, and soon realised one or two portraits wasn’t going to cut it.
“What has been really clear is how much we value each other, with the outpouring of love for colleagues being evident following the posting of each portrait,” Bunksy said.
Bunksy’s vanishing has been bittersweet for many, with many sad to see them go but hugely grateful for their exceptional hard work and generosity over the last several weeks.
However, as some eagle-eyed people on Facebook and Twitter have already noticed, Bunksy’s final post certainly leaves the door open for a potential return.
In typical ‘Bunksy’ fashion though, the incognito artist isn’t revealing much just yet: “I’m going to enjoy my travels but I’ll send you a postcard from time to time – watch out for them on Facebook and Twitter.”
“Just remember though, where there are Pennine Care heroes, Bunksy will never be far behind.”
Click here to see a gallery of Bunksy’s portraits. You can also follow Bunsky on Facebook (Pennine Bunksy), Twitter (@PBunksy) and Instagram (@PennineCareNHS).