Lester magoogan biography

I was a very successful saxophonist travelling the world as part of top bands and artists such as the English Beat,Joan Armatrading and Billy Ocean.
After leaving school at 19, Lester studied at Hastings College until he was 23.
A former pupil of Glynne Gap School Lester was the first person in the country to receive a Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Award for Young.

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Gabriel’s Story

By Kayte Brimacombe

Gabriel was born at home after a rapid labour on 6th December 1995. We were so overwhelmed and excited by his arrival that we dismissed as routine the midwife’s suggestion that he may have Down syndrome. After our first magical night with him we followed advice and took him to hospital. He was officially diagnosed. We were devastated but there was more news to come, we were told Gabriel also had a heart defect (as do 40% of children with Down syndrome). The brutal fact that his life was at risk helped us to put his learning disability into perspective. Down syndrome no longer seemed such a big deal. Gabriel had open heart surgery at 3 months and although it was a traumatic experience for us all, he soon recovered. In the following months Gabriel seemed to be developing well for a baby with Down syndrome. He passed all his early milestones sitting up, crawling and then walking within 18 months. I remember feeling full of pride when a paediatrician remarked that he was the brightest i

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Lester Magoogan can produce up to 200 pieces of art in a week, not all of it is exhibition quality but each piece represents 36-year-old Lester’s unique perspective and it comes from what mum Marion and dad Wesley describe as ‘Lester’s world’.

Lester was in his mid-teens before he discovered his artistic side and it was Billy Connolly who provided the inspiration that first kicked off Lester’s prolific career as an artist. Connolly was interviewing an old man, a painter, who was talking about the importance of trying to maintain a childlike perspective to your art and how difficult that was to do. From then on Wesley encouraged his son to start sharing his drawings with the outside world.

It was a proud moment for the Magoogan family earlier this week when they packed up a batch of Lester’s work to send off for exhibition at the Paralym Art World Cup in Tokyo, representing a new high in the young artist’s career.

Inspiration for his drawing comes from everywhere; film, TV, radio and just watching people go about their everyday busines

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From the teen whose painting hangs in Prince George's nursery to the cartoons bought by London's Tate Modern: Meet some incredible Down syndrome artists

One of the artists has one of her paintings hanging in Prince George's bedroom. One has had his cartoons exhibited at London's Tate Modern.

Another is a Sydney teenager who has been painting for just 18 months but is now selling works around the world.

They are among a collective of 26 artists from the around the world whose works are about to go up for sale in an exhibition which opens next week on Fifth Avenue in New York.

Tazia Fawley (pictured), from Somerset, England, had painted mostly landscapes when Prince George was born in 2013. Her mother says the royal family's acceptance of Tazia's painting of Rupert Bear as a gift for the prince has 'turned the negativity around' about Down syndrome

Comic artist Lester Magoogan (pictured) has had his mostly comic works hung in galleries in the UK and Europe and says his inspiration is 'the world is a funny place to live in, most of the time'

Janine Beatson (pictured