BOLTON Wanderers star Jay-Jay Okocha will be welcomed into the homes of fans across the borough -- thanks to a talented artist.
Nick Taylor has produced a stunning portrait of the Nigerian ace as part of a series of limited edition prints which will be available to fans in the club shop.
The artwork, in pastel, captures the grace and skill of Okocha as he performs a nifty trademark "step-over" to throw attacking defenders off the scent.
And surprisingly, most of the picture was posed not by Okocha, but by Nick himself -- in his bedroom mirror.
The 29-year-old Bolton artist and lifelong Wanderers fan created the body pose by studying Okocha's playing style, and copying the star's moves in a mirror.
He also captured Jay-Jay's face from a black and white photograph, which meant that Nick had to blend his own skin tones for the picture.
Season ticket holder Nick, who lives in the town centre and teaches art at Manchester College of Arts and Technology, spent around 15 hours on the piece.
And the man himself, captain Jay-Jay, says the picture is "really impressive."
He said: "It's very life-like."
Bolton Wanderers became interested in reproducing and selling the picture after Nick showed it to the club's commercial director Gareth Moores.
He was so impressed that Nick has now been commissioned to complete a portrait of Ivan Campo, and a match-day scene, similar in theme to Lowry's "Going to the Match".
Nick, a former Thornleigh college student, who completed a Fine Art degree at the University of Sunderland, said: "I chose to capture Jay-Jay as he is simply the master.
"No one has ever been as skilful or as capable as Okocha and combined it with so much grace."
The Okocha print will be available in a run of 250 pictures which will go on sale this weekend priced £14.99 and £59.99 when framed.
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