Paintings of refugees given to 'show hosts' generosity'

A Ukrainian artist who paints family portraits for refugees to give to UK hosts is "immortalising" Britons' generosity, she says.

Olha Son, who went to Cornwall when she arrived in the UK, was asked for paintings to thank people's hosts.

The 35-year-old's art shows Britons sheltering Ukrainian refugees with a Union flag-decorated umbrella.

She also said she felt she was "doing something important", partly showing the impact of the war in Ukraine.

Ms Son said she started painting five years ago when she was diagnosed with depression and initially painted still-life images, before receiving a message from a fellow Ukrainian refugee asking for a gift for their host family.

She brainstormed ideas for the painting, which was "easy" because she "was in an identical situation as my customer and I knew what it feels like to feel what they feel".

Since then, she has had commissions from other refugees who wanted to thank their hosts.

She said: "It's like immortalising this phenomena of a British family who made a decision to open their doors to strangers from a different country, a different culture, in order to help in such a devastating situation as the war."

One couple who received a painting from the Ukrainian family living with them for some months was Kevin Kennedy Ryan, 33, and Jessica Ryan Smith 32, from Sheffield.

The couple gave them a painting showing their two families, painted by Ms Son, which Mr Kennedy Ryan said left them "speechless" and "drove home some of the reality of the situation".

The British couple offered their home to refugees before Russia invaded Ukraine and said: "It's not necessarily about refugees from Ukraine or any one particular area.

"We all have this humanity that we share together."

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