WHEN Kayle McCoy had a lightbulb moment on the sofa she didn’t know what it would become.

The dramatherapist, who lost most of her work due to the covid-19 crisis, was scrolling through a local newsletter when she read about Bradford Council’s response grant - a new scheme designed to give creatives the opportunity to bring people together and boost mental wellbeing in the community.

Putting pen to paper, the 33-year-old imagined a ‘united art project' and sent off application forms and permission slips to the council.

Kayle received the funding days later and quickly put a call out on social media - this was when her project took off.

It has seen budding artists between five and 93 take part as they worked on their own canvases on the same day across 46 households.

These canvases expressing lockdown and the isolation that comes with it will be brought together in one of Bradford's museums, set to be a symbol of everyone coming together after the pandemic is over.

In 46 households across the district, everyone set up their painting stations on May 26 and expressed their thoughts and mood in lockdown through art.

“We’re all mini Picasso’s and you’re creating masterpieces in your own right,”Kayle told the participants.

Some had never painted before while others took it up again after years of neglecting the hobby.

Kayle, who lives in the BD4 area, told the Telegraph & Argus: "We're all in the knowledge that at some point somebody else is painting with you.

"I offered tips on how to paint, I said put a bit of music on.

"One mum was like 'My son really enjoyed it and set himself a station up again'.

"They keep the paints and brushes so they can continue.

"I've had such wonderful feedback. I've had on some feedback: 'Trust the process' - channelling through into actual life situations. If they can brush the canvas that's a pathway into 'I'm going to try something new'.

"The idea that it doesn't matter what was created, it's about them as a person."

Kayle hopes the project will leave behind a legacy - one that encourages adults to 'play more' and children to take up a creative career.

One young boy has continued to use his donated paints and told his mum how he would like to take art as a school subject when he is older.

"I would like it to continue after Covid," Kayle said.

You can see more of the canvases from the Covid-19 United Art Project by searching for @kayledramatherapy on Instagram.