The Alpha Course

Portrait painter Alan Hawkins did an Alpha Course in 2006 and as a result was inspired for the first time by a new creativity that compelled him to paint original pieces.

Alan, 62, was invited by a friend to do an Alpha Course held at St Mary Magdalene, Ashton on Mersey in Cheshire. There were six groups of 10 people taking the course and half way through the ten weeks Alan had a revelation.

‘It was like a curtain had been pulled back and I realized Jesus was real, and that He had died for me,’ he said.

Since that moment ideas for paintings came flooding into Alan’s mind. He had been a portrait painter for almost thirty years, and never had many creative ideas for paintings before, now he is inundated with them.

He even wakes up in the night to sketch the pictures that come to him.

The new paintings culminated in a four-month exhibition at Salford Art Gallery in 2010.

Since becoming a Christian Alan said: ‘I feel so much better about myself. I feel the presence of God when I paint, and I know with His help I can be as good as anybody.’