An Artistic Family

There were two pictures at the recent C.N.D. art exhibition at Central Hall, Yiewsley, I found very interesting, especially when I saw they had been painted by a 13-year-old local boy, Ronnie Wood.

One was a copy of Rembrandt’s Self Portrait, and the other was a fascinating study of people at a cinema. Ronnie had captured in the second picture the varying expressions of the audience – boredom, excitement, indifference or inattention – in almost Renoir style.

When I visited Ronnie at his home in Whitethorn-avenue, Yiewsley, I discovered he was the youngest of three artistic brothers. In fact the two older ones, Arthur, Aged 14, and 22-year-old Ted, are both successful commercial artists.

Ronnie now 14, wants to follow in his brothers’ footsteps, after finishing his schooling at Ruislip Manor he hopes to go to Ealing School of Art.

He had about nine of his pictures shown on T.V. when he took part in Adrian Hill’s Sketch Club competitions, and recently won second prize for a fire prevention poster in a Ruislip-Northwood contest. The first prize went to his friend, Tomy Munroe, who lives in the same road as the Woods.

So While other boys are out fishing. Shooting or playing football, Ronnie spends most of his spare time painting or attending art exhibitions.

And his mother told me: “We don’t know where the artistic temperament came from, because his father and I vever had any opportunity of finding out whether we had any talent in that direction.”