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Gina Long, founder of the former children's charity GeeWizz and now aged 64, will hold her first art exhibition featuring 32 paintings created after being inspired by Ed Sheeran’s abstract painting Dab 2 2020. The auction where Sheeran donated the artwork raised £40,000 for charities including GeeWizz in 2020. Long, who had no formal training or initial plan to become an artist, describes her journey as a series of unexpected career changes and sees this exhibition as a testament to embracing creativity at any age.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Gina Long, founder of the former children’s charity GeeWizz in Fornham St Martin, Suffolk, was inspired to become an artist after seeing Ed Sheeran's abstract painting Dab 2 2020 at a charity auction in 2020. The artwork, which sold for £40,000 and featured a Jackson Pollock-inspired style, sparked Long’s creativity. At the age of 64, she is now holding her first art exhibition featuring 32 paintings that tell a deeply personal story. Long began painting after the auction with no formal training or grand plan, and has since received commissions from around the world.
Written for “Artist Exhibition Inspired By Painting” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 60363 · logged 2026-10-06
Gina Long, founder of the former children’s charity GeeWizz in Suffolk, which closed in 2023, said that something about the singer songwriter’s colourful abstract painting Dab 2 2020 “stayed with me”.
asserted
something → close → me
Sheeran, 35, donated Dab 2 2020 to an auction in 2020 which helped charities including GeeWizz.
asserted
which → donate → GeeWizz
The artwork fetched £40,000.
asserted
artwork → fetch → 40,000
Ms Long, of Fornham St Martin, Suffolk, said that Sheeran’s painting was “created in a Jackson Pollock-inspired style” and “something about seeing creativity expressed so freely stayed with me”.
She said she “never planned to become an artist” but was now holding her first exhibition at the age of 64.
asserted
she → say → 64
“After the auction, I ordered some canvases, set up a space in my greenhouse, and simply started painting,” she said.
asserted
she → order → greenhouse
“I had no formal training, no grand plan, and no expectation of where it might lead.
uncertain
it → have → training
“Three years later, after receiving commissions from around the world I have created a body of work that is so deeply personal, that literally came from waking up one morning knowing I had to paint…
asserted
I → receive → work
The 32 paintings will be displayed as 16 pairs.
asserted
paintings → display → pairs
“I think I feel like a square peg in a round hole, having spent so many ever-changing years of my life in the lane that I’ve created for myself, absolutely breaking a lot of unrealistic expectations and for the majority of the time, feeling like you don’t belong,” said Ms Long.
asserted
Long → think → time
“I’ve moved between business, charity, farming, campaigning, communications and now art.
asserted
I → move → business
“Every time I’ve changed direction there have been people who thought it didn’t quite fit.
asserted
it → change → direction
“The irony is that I’ve come to realise at 64 we’re not supposed to fit perfectly into someone else’s idea of who we should be.
asserted
we → come → idea
“The older I get, the more comfortable I am with being a square peg.
asserted
I → get → ?
“In fact, I think that’s often where the most interesting things in life happen.”
asserted
things → think → life
The exhibition is free for the public to visit.
asserted
public → visit → ?
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