Artist Alan Deacon making a difference one brush stroke at a time

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) — ‘I will while I can;’ that’s the motto that Alan Deacon lives by.

Deacon, a former construction worker of twenty years started tripping over things in 2005 and didn’t know why. He was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, and over the years he’s lost the mobility of his arms and legs.

Two years ago when he moved from his home in Clarence to Harris Hill Nursing Facility, he found a new way to show his love of creating.

“It’s odd being an artist because everything I see I want to paint,” said Deacon.

From sunflowers to cardinals to horses, if Deacon sees something, he might just wear one of his paintbrush caps his son made him and create a masterpiece.

“Being in bed, staring at the walls, I decided I wanted to start painting with a brush with my mouth, because I figured that I could do that, and I figured as long as I’m alive, I want to do something,” said Deacon.

Deacon sells his paintings to raise funds for him and his wife’s horse rescue farm, Phoenix Rising Equine Rescue & Rehabilitation, at their farm Spruce Meadow in Clarence. They opened the rescue at the farm back in 2009 after seeing the need for a horse rescue.

“There aren’t too many, but just like anything like dogs and cats, there are a lot of horses that need help, and it’s not easy to have the facilities and the ability to do something for them” said Deacon’s wife Karla, the executive and founder of Phoenix Rising Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation.

Karla said that it costs them around $400 a month to take care of each horse and that they have around 12 to 15 rescues at a time.

“I think it’s great just that he’s doing it, and that he decided that we were going to do it for the horses, I think it’s really wonderful,” said Karla.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, they are holding their annual “Autumnfest” where proceeds of the activities will benefit their rescue care. The event has free admission, face painting, pony rides, live music, a basket raffle, rescue dogs from Buffalo Underdog Rescue and more.

Deacon will be painting and selling his paintings there, helping make a difference, one stroke of his paintbrush at a time.

For more information on their horse rescue, click here . To purchase Alan’s paintings, click here .

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Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here .

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