Ashington artist paints the Ghost of Kyiv to raise funds to help Ukraine

An Ashington man has combined his love of military history with his passion for painting to create a piece of art which he hopes will help those caught up in the Ukraine crisis.
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Glen Carey has painted The Ghost of Kyiv which he is offering for auction to raise funds for charity.

"I've already had quite a few bids and the money I raise will go to one of the charities helping Ukraine," he said. "I'm not sure which one yet - I'm going to ask the people I know with contacts in Ukraine which one will be best to get the money directly to the people who need it."

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A fire engineer by profession, Glen studied art at school and college but it was when the fairies he painted on his daughters' bedroom walls were spotted by an author that he got his first commission.

Glen Carey with his painting depicting the Ghost of KyivGlen Carey with his painting depicting the Ghost of Kyiv
Glen Carey with his painting depicting the Ghost of Kyiv

"It's a weird story, " he said. "I'm interested in the Vietnam War and part of a living history re-enactment group called American Forces Vietnam. Through that I read a book by this author Kregg Jorgenson and I thought this is a really well written book, this is a guy I'd really like to meet.

"Then one year I had a pumpkin left over and I carved the 1st Cavalry Division crest into it, and put it on Facebook. This guy got in touch to say he really liked it - and it was the author. We became friends after that through living history.

"When I decorated the girls' rooms I painted flower fairies on the walls and shared a picture of that. Kregg got in touch and said 'you're a guy who seems to be good with a paintbrush, can you paint a helicopter?'."

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Glen designed the cover artwork for his next book, and has since done four more for the author. The publications are popular with military veterans, and some sent him photos of themselves with the books, and of when they were serving.

"A lot of soldiers or ex-soldiers commissioned me to do paintings of them as they are, or when they were serving, in Afghanistan and other places," Glen said.

"I've done all sorts of paintings for people since, for presents and for weddings."

The recent events in Ukraine prompted Glen to pick up his paintbrush again with a more serious purpose.

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"I've got a lot of ex-military friends, and some of them know people in Ukraine so we've been hearing about what's going on direct from the source.

"People have said the Ghost of Kyiv doesn't exist, but I've heard it from people who have seen him. He's real and he's the first fighter ace of the 21st century."

The painting, done in acrylic, shows the legendary pilot in the cockpit of a Mig 29 holding the ace because he is said to have shot down more than five Russian jets. On the background, the Ukrainian flag, you can see a Russian SU-27 aircraft going down.

Glen based the picture on selfies of Ukrainian pilots taken in the Mig 29, so he could get the cockpit details and the perspective exactly right.

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The auction of the painting will be open until Sunday, March 20 and bids are being taken through the Facebook page Glen Carey - Artist for hire.

The charity chosen to receive the funds will be confirmed before the auction closes.