Shany Hagan to create painting of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

Shany Hagan, who has lived in York for more than 20 years, was contacted by well-known actor Ricky Tomlinson, who starred in The Royle Family and Brookside, who asked her to create a special painting of Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp to raise money for homeless people in the city.

Shany said: "Ricky is a good friend he reached out to me asking if I would help him.

• READ MORE: York artist tackling 550-mile trek challenge to support charities

"Gary Skyner is a stand-up comedian in Liverpool who came up with the idea. I didn’t hesitate when he said money is for the homeless, he then asked if I would paint Jurgen Klopp.

"I recognised the name but wasn’t sure who he was,. I casually mentioned it to my mum and she nearly dropped off her chair - 'oh my god Shany he’s one of the best footballer managers in the world' she said.

"She suggested that I Googled him. My mum’s a massive football fan, she’s almost 80 and supports Arsenal."

Shany with a piece she created for the former RAF Scampton base (Image: Supplied)

The York artist will be going to Liverpool when the paintings are finished to present and have the painting signed by Mr Klopp, which Gary will be organising. 

Shany had eye surgery during the Covid-19 lockdowns and decided to start painting again, despite not picking a paintbrush up for 33 years.

After raising thousands for different charities through auctioning off and donating her artwork, which has gathered interest from a number of celebrities, earlier this year Shany turned to organising her own fundraiser.

Until around October time, Shany has set herself the challenge of walking 550-miles to raise money for Diabetes UK and Breast Cancer Now, with support from some well-known names.

Some of the paintings in Shany's series, which have been donated to charity, include one of late BBC television presenter Harry Gration which was painted with coffee and food colouring and film star Johnny Depp painted with red wine and donated to a men’s domestic violence charity.

She has also painted actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson using tea, which went to Sheffield hospital's children’s ward - and has even worked with the likes of Cliff Richard.

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch saw his painting and described it as "lovely" in a social media post - this was also donated to support a homeless charity.

Shany Hagan's painting of King Charles (Image: Supplied)

The artist also travelled down to London for the King's Coronation, as one of her paintings was on display on billboards across the capital. Her painting of the King was selected to feature in Barcelona in the Art Tunnel display - including work from more than 800 artists.