THE artist describes them as portraits of extraordinary, but ordinary, people.

These are the new portraits of soldiers, of all ranks, in the artist’s own red studio chair, or in their own homes, that Tom McKendrick hopes will allow the public a new insight into the men and women of the British Army.

Soldiers, a new free exhibition to open at Clydebank Museum and Art Gallery on 6 November and which will run to 12 January next year, features dozens of portraits of servicemen and women.

The exhibition, Mr McKendrick, said, was conceived in 2012, to commemorate the hundred years since the ending of the First World War.

The portraits range from a 100-year-old veteran of Dunkirk to a 13-year-old sea cadet - many are shown with the results of their physical injuries.

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It includes injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, a dog handler, and a female medic, and the artist, who trained at Glasgow School of Art and travelled widely to capture the portraits, has also portrayed things not often seen in perhaps more staid military portraits.

Dog handler Mick McConnell is pictured with his two dogs, for example, and Sub-Lieutenant Michelle Ping has been rendered with her daughter, Ellena Rae, on her knee.

The artist said he had been keen to avoid creating traditional military portraits, which tend to feature generals and other high ranking officers - the majority of those shown are in lower ranks.

He also interviewed each of them, and tells their stories in text which accompanies the exhibition.

The artist said: “I had been thinking about World War One, and the soldiers from that war are dead, but many of the soldiers I spoke to, they had family members who had fought in the war: like surgeons and teachers, being in the army seems to run in families.

“The basic idea, really, of mine was that army portraits tend to be of the high-rankers, the upper crust of the army, but I really wanted to keep this to normal people, to make portraits of them and see what they had to say about being the army, for themselves.”

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He added that as his project developed, British Army representatives spoke to him, initially, he believes, nervous about the project and how it might portray the army.

Mr McKendrick said: “The army is a top-to-bottom place, and I think they were worried about the impression that would be given.

“But what struck me was I was dealing with some people who had been gravely wounded, and some who had seen and experienced some horrendous things, but they all had this immense pride, to a man and woman, in being in the army.

“I personally didn’t have any bias or prejudgement on what I would find.

“What I found was some outstanding, but very ordinary, people.”

The artist created the portraits on paper with mixed media, using acrylics and pastels as well as some watercolours (he is a member of the Royal Society of Watercolourists) and oil.

The exhibition includes an image of Corporal David Timmins, QGM, who lost an eye and suffered multiple injuries in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2009.

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Of Corporal David Timmins, McKendrick writes in the book that accompanies the show: “Corporal Timmins’ story is indeed many stories.

“Among them, the extraordinary skill and dedication of surgeons and nursing staff, the human ability to survive devastating injuries and a man’s unwillingness to admit defeat.

“David’s route to recovery has been hard and it will continue to be so for many years to come.”

Those depicted have a myriad of military experiences.

It includes Sergeant Bert Stone, who was at Monte Cassino, Sergeant Allan McKinlay at Anzio, and Major Mandy Islam

who saw service in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Elizabeth Dent, writing in the book, notes: “Tom is capable of creating objects and paintings of great beauty.

“He does not glorify war, but in this exhibition of soldiers, he honours the ordinary men and women who do extraordinary things.”

The artist added: “I would say people will see the show, perhaps they will see a 97 year old gentleman in a chair and think nothing of it, then they will read that as an 18-year-old, he parachuted in behind enemy lines.

“You might then look back at the painting, and your view of it may completely change.”

He noted: “The show really is a composite, there is a lot of writing in it.”

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McKendrick was born in Clydebank in 1948.

He served an aprenticeship as a ‘Loftsman’ in John Browns Shipyard before studying at Glasgow School of Art from 1970 to 1975, and has since exhibited widely and awards for his work.

His exhibitions include Blitz, Submarine, Rivet Temple, Iron and Heavier Than Air.

The artist added: “All of these different stories are of survivors, but they represent millions of untold stories from the First World War to the present day.

“The men and women who look out at us are dignified, determined and stoical. They bear witness to many of the horrors of war but they take pride in having done their duty serving their country.”

Bailie Denis Agnew of West Dunbartonshire Council said: “It is a privilege for the Council to host this exhibition and to know the personal stories behind each sitter.”

“Tom McKendrick’s Soldiers exhibition states in a visceral way that lessons were never learned following the Armistice.”