As he approached his 100th birthday in April 2020, Captain Sir Tom Moore inspired many people with his humility and hope, both in this country and throughout the world. Fundraising for the NHS in the midst of the UK’s first national Covid-19 lockdown, Sir Tom raised over £39 million pounds walking gentle laps around his garden.
His death, just a few days ago, also touched Spanish/Venezuelan artist Fernando Asián who has captured the national hero’s likeness in a commemorative pen and ink portrait. Fernando arrived in Yealmpton, near Plymouth, some months before the pandemic took hold.
“The health service here is nothing short of amazing,” said Fernando who during the first lockdown joined friends and neighbours on their doorsteps for the weekly clap for the NHS. “Along with many, I was impressed by the sacrifices of frontline health and social care workers tackling the pandemic. The village GP surgery has been brilliant and as we came out of that first lockdown I was offered cataract surgery in Derriford Hospital.” In Venezuela Fernando worked as an oil painter, sculptor and illustrator. He produced hundreds of portraits of national and international figures including Columbian Nobel Prize winning author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Latin America’s liberator, Simon Bolivar, recently chosen by the BBC as the most important figure of the 19th century.
