Painting of Jasper Carrott made with his hair, blood, and spit mistakenly sold by charity shop

KEMP Hospice in Bewdley is launching a public appeal to find the artwork so it can reunite the picture with its rightful owner, local professional artist Hilary J Baker.

Hilary, whose studio is located near to the shop, was commissioned to create a picture of the local celebrity.

The portrait formed part of a series of 'forensic portraits' which are made using an individual's traces as part of the process.

Hilary said: “The picture is a forensic etching print which required many visits to my Bewdley studio by Jasper, and I used his hair, fingerprints, blood and even spit in my unique forensic etching process. The picture means a great deal to me, and I was devastated to learn it had been mistakenly sold.”

The picture was on loan and displayed in the charity shop as part of the Foundry Artist Art Trail 2022, which included 20 locations across the town taking part in the two-week event.

However, the picture was unfortunately sold by mistake, on the morning of Wednesday, July 13 for just £20.

KEMP is now appealing to the customer to come forward to receive a full refund and help the hospice to reunite the picture with its rightful owner.

Caroline Beech, CEO of KEMP Hospice said: “Our charity shops raise vital funds to help KEMP deliver care across the Wyre Forest, so we always want to support the community that helps to supports us.

“We were devasted to learn that this genuine and unfortunate mistake had occurred, and everyone across the whole team is very concerned to see Hilary reunited with her picture as soon as possible”

Gary Barnes, Head of Retail at KEMP added: “We have exhausted all avenues of tracking the picture down, which is why we are now appealing for help from our local community.

“We are genuinely sorry for what has happened. We’ve conducted an internal investigation and are confident that it was an unfortunate human error.

“We hope that the person who purchased the picture will understand and will get in touch to help us reunite it with Hilary.”

Hilary went on to say: “KEMP’s Bewdley Shop does great work in support of the local community and KEMP Hospice, but the picture does mean a great deal to me so I would very much like to locate it and get it back to the studio.

“Along with KEMP, I’m appealing to anyone who might know its whereabouts to contact the hospice by emailing retail@kemphopsice.org.uk or by calling 01562 756 000 and I hope the picture can be returned as swiftly as possible.”