A BANKIE artist has opened up on his cancer treatment, his creative work and how virtual pub visits have kept him going during the long days of lockdown.

A man of many art forms, Owen McGuigan has been infatuated with creativity since his first days of primary school over 60 years ago, when his late father taught him how to use a hand fretsaw – the same one he still uses to this day.

“It’s over 80 years old,” Owen, 68, told the Post. “I always liked making things and worked in manufacturing for nearly 40 years.

“In 1979 I took up 35mm photography and about six years ago I joined the Dalmuir Park Art Class, about the same time my grandchildren started coming along, so I made them memory boxes.

“The art class and the grandchildren then kicked off my desire to get into art again. I turned my shop into a little workshop where I work on various projects. Awestruck Academy in Clydebank is a great venue for displaying my work and Allan Rutherford has been a great friend in promoting my art.”

Allan, the managing director of Awestruck Art Gallery on Sylvania Way, added: “He is a local legend.

“Ex-pats around the world received his work as gifts from family members or visitors buying them as souvenirs.

“I’ve known Owen through his work for years and I’ve been lucky enough to become a personal friend since I opened the gallery in 2017.

“His work stood out to me as he has a great variety of mediums and styles that he works in. The capture of the history of Clydebank through his photos and videos is amazing.”

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Owen has recently been receiving treatment for advanced prostate cancer, but that treatment has now stopped as a result of the pandemic.

He shared the news of his condition in an emotional Facebook post recently, where he was taken in an ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital with a high temperature.

Owen was tested for coronavirus and results came back negative.

“The treatment is working,” he said.

With lockdown firmly in place, Owen has been receiving supplies delivered to his doorstep from his son, daughter, niece and wife’s nephew as well as from friends.

“We have Skyped a few times,” he said.

“I do a virtual pub Skype with my nephew every Wednesday evening, as we always normally go for a pint – we’ve been meeting up for over 40 years now. It’s fun and the closest we’re going to get until the pandemic is over.”

“I am 68 and he is nearly as old as me – 62. We are like brothers, on the same wavelength.”

In his advice to others, he says: “Keep in contact on social media and try and get out for fresh air. Take up colouring in, it’s very relaxing. Try and walk a mile a day, even round the garden, which I do. Phone friends and family. It will pass. Be brave and save lives.”

Owen is currently working on a wood burning of a robin as well as a Tree of Life LED lamp, which he is building in his shed.

To see Owen’s photos and videos of Clydebank visit myclydebankphotos.co.uk, and to see more of his artwork visit Clydebank’s Awestruck Academy when lockdown measures cease.