Did A Scottish Artist Foresee 9/11?
Many people believe that a chalk drawing done by an artist in the 1980s gives a terrifying premonition of 9/11. The spooky artwork depicts a forlorn young girl flanked by two jet planes with the Twin Towers swamped by flames.
But in fact it was drawn more than 10 years before the atrocity.
Artist Willie Gardner died in November last year at the age of 78 taking with him to the grave exactly what inspired him to create the work.
It shows the falling locks of the child's hair spiralling downwards. It looks like fire and smoke billowing into the sky from one of the doomed towers.
The drawing has hung in the reception of the Grangemouth Community Education Unit in Stirlingshire.
Depiction
It looks so much like a depiction of 9/11 visitors thought it was a tribute to those who died in the New York terror attacks.
Lex Cook who was education unit co-ordinator at the centre in the late 1980s said: "It was maybe 1988 or 1989 when I first saw Willie's drawing. The boss here at the time liked it and Willie kindly gave it to him to display in the centre.
"As far as I know Willie did the work when he was a member of the centre's art club. I can remember at the time standing looking at it and trying to figure out what it was showing.
"It was quite eye-catching but also strange at the same time.
"I never thought about it being linked to the Twin Towers attacks because I've been looking at it for so long.
"Then you get someone with a fresh pair of eyes who sees it and people have asked if it is a tribute to the victims of 9/11."
Memorial
Unit manager Jody Cannon said he thought it was some kind of an artistic memorial.
He said: "The guy who first showed it to me ruined it by then telling me it was painted before 9/11.
"Now when I show it to someone new I don't say anything and they usually say it must be some kind of tribute.
"When I tell them it was painted before it happened they just don't believe it."
The artist's daughter Aileen Currie, 53, said: "I do know it was done years before the Twin Towers were destroyed.
"He was always interested in art and had been painting since he was young.
"He was a member of the art group in the education unit. It was just one of his drawings and I think it had been lying in the back office for years before they moved it into the reception area."
But she couldn't explain her father's apparent premonition.
Centre co-ordinator Emma Allardyce said: "In hindsight its significance is remarkable. But people have to make up their own minds."
Adapted from an original article in The Sun 8/9/11
Posted on Sun 11th Sep 2011 12:43:13