Scouser Paul Johnson used to earn his living making stained glass art for huge houses but has reinvented his business thanks to John Lennon.

Paul Johnson's piece depicting The Beatles legend has gained local fame after first being exhibited at the Rennies Gallery on Bold Street - and it's now on display at various Merseyside art centres.

Paul, 59, said he struggled after returning to Liverpool from California, taking a job as a taxi driver after his previous stained glass firm was affected badly by the financial crash.

But since starting out earlier this year on his new venture, Artists In Lead, he's sold 200 of the pieces entitled 'Through the Eyes of Lennon'.

Dad-of-three Paul, who now lives in Dingle, said: "It's just come out of nowhere. I was only going into the gallery for advice.

"I keep getting told how difficult it is to get into the art world, so I am surprised it's happened like this."

Artist Paul Johnson, who has produced stained glass artworks of John Lennon and Jurgen Klopp

Paul said as well as the hundreds of sales this year, he's also given one of the works to Mr Lennon's sister, Julia Baird, at the opening of Beatles attraction Strawberry Fields earlier this month.

And he's now hoping to sell hundreds more by the end of the year.

He said: "The Lennon was the breakthrough. Without that I wouldn't have got anywhere, and now it's opened the door for me to take other stuff in.

"As far as I know, there's no one in the world who does what I'm doing at the moment - I can't keep up with demand."

Paul moved to Los Angeles with his family as a young man, where he then lived for 18 years.

He said: "I always liked drawing. I did all my schooling in LA, and got a job with a stained glass company working on homes in Beverly Hills - but always wanted to come back and work here."

Living in LA provided him with a number of unique experiences - including getting thrown off the set of detective TV series Columbo, and teaching Kelsey Grammer - who played sitcom character Frasier - how to play darts at the local pub. He also went to the same school as Marilyn Monroe, although not at the same time.

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Paul's sister Diane is one of the country's top hair extensions specialists who counts Kate Winslet and a host of footballers wives, including Alex Gerrard and Abbey Clancy among her glitzy clientele.

He moved back to the UK in 1990, starting a stained glass business with his brother called Lead Charm, which saw some success, but was badly hit by the financial crash in 2008. 

Beverly Hills

"It had been really good before that, but after the crash, companies started to do jobs we were doing, themselves in house, so we began to struggle."

He explained: "It got to last year, when I thought 'what am I going to do now at the age of 59? My business is all I know'."

"So I went on the taxis thinking that was the answer.

"I was working 10 hours a day, seven days a week and couldn’t pay my bills. I thought 'is this my life now?'"

He lasted six weeks in the job, during which time the only celebrity he served was ex-Beatles drummer Pete Best.

Former The Beatles drummer Pete Best takes a walk down memory lane on Mathew Street, Liverpool. Photo by James Maloney

"I thought the only chance I've got is wall art," Paul said.

But after creating the Lennon piece, he was reluctant to show it to galleries or museums for fear of criticism.

"When you watch The X Factor and the parents tell the contestants they've got really good voices, and then they go on the show and get destroyed - that's why I didn't go into a gallery to show my work straight away.

"I didn't want to meet the art world's Simon Cowell and get ripped apart."

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But, as Paul described, that was far from the reality of what happened next. 

"I just walked in for some advice on what to do. They started by saying 'we've got enough art', but when I showed it to them, everything changed. They said yes straight away.

"I just wasn't expecting the reaction I got."

Artist Paul Johnson with his Lennon and Klopp works

After going in the window of Bold Street's Rennies Gallery, the piece sold "within an hour", with the next one put up later that day selling "just as quick".

His works are now exhibited at five Merseyside galleries - The Rennies Gallery, Liverpool Pictures in Albert Dock, Liverpool Gift Gallery in West Derby, Gallery One on Lord Street in Southport and Molyneux and Daughters in Crosby.

It's also led Liverpool FC fan Paul to create various other pieces, including a work featuring Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.

He was secretive on exactly how he makes the prints, but said: "I absolutely love doing it. I've always been involved in art."

John Lennon at a press conference at Heathrow airport on his return from honeymoon with Yoko Ono

The Lennon prints cost £235 if bought at the galleries. Explaining the idea behind them, Paul said: "I thought if I'm going to sell something in Liverpool, there's no one better to base it on than him. But if you pick Lennon, there are so many pictures people have seen - so I needed to make something new, make it look different. Make people think of Liverpool when they see it.

"Basically, he's looking back at two cities that meant the most to him - Liverpool and New York. I wanted to make it look like two cities under the same sky.

"I've been told that if I'd come in 20 years ago with it, it would've sold, and if I'd bought it into the gallery in 20 years' time, it would sell then too."

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