Asia’s DIY reveals a wonder wall

A Dundee woman has turned detective in the hope of tracking down the artist who replicated a famous painting on a wall in her house.

Asia Akram has been left in awe after scraping back the wallpaper in her Pitkerro

Road home to find a little bit of history.

The 36-year-old was renovating the bedroom of her daughters Myesha and Ayaana when she unearthed a replica of work originally created by artist Frederick George Cotman in 1880.

His One Of The Family painting had been replicated by a budding artist in the house, which left Asia curious as to when it may have been painted.

The former Morgan Academy pupil said that, despite some wear and tear, the colours in the painting are still very vibrant.

She said: “Unfortunately I haven’t found a signature to say who painted it.

“I first unearthed it when I was scraping the wallpaper off.

“Once I discovered more of the artwork I stopped scraping the paper off and started just steaming it and peeling the paper off.

“I uploaded the picture on to social media to the Dundonian History For All page to see if anyone knew anything about the painting.

“People told me about the original painting and who it was by.”

Although mystery surrounds the art, Asia suspects it may have been created shortly after the house was built in the 1940s.

“Apparently this was quite a common thing to do back in the day as opposed to wallpaper,” she said.

“Some people were joking, saying it looked like the The Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

“It’s so well preserved, though, I’d be really keen to know if anyone knows who did the painting in this house.”

Asia said the family are now pondering what to do next with the artwork in the bedroom of Myesha, 13, and Ayaana, six.

She said: “The decorating has been put on hold at the moment.

“Someone who lived here before us has tried to scrape it off, so some of it is missing, unfortunately,” she added.

“People have been saying we should put thin timber wood panelling up and wallpaper on that so it is preserved underneath.

“Both the girls are really arty and they both thought it was really cool but I think they both want the room decorated.

“I think we will put the timber up to preserve it until whoever moves in next wants to maybe revamp it.

“Whoever did this work, though, is really talented and it has been a great find.

“Hopefully we will find out who did this painting,” she added.

One Of The Family: Asia Akram with daughters Ayaana and Myesha and the painting they uncovered in their home.