Kieron Williamson dubbed 'Mini Monet' worth £2MILLION

Kieron Williamson dubbed 'Mini Monet' worth £2MILLION

At just 14 years old and with paintings going for up to £55,000, you'd be forgiven for thinking Kieron Williamson is at risk of trading his passion for money.

But he insists, that would never happen, even though the watercolour artist dubbed 'Mini Monet', is now worth a cool £2million.

'I don’t sell my soul, I paint what fires me up and there will be certain scenes that I do paint two or three times because I love painting them. 

'If my heart isn’t in it, I don’t do it.' 

The teenager who sold his first painting at the age of six for £14,000, has the support of his dedicated parents Michelle and Keith - who he lives with in the home he bought - along with his younger sister Billie-Jo, 12, in Ludham, Norfolk .

Kieron is the subject of his very own BBC documentary, Mini Monet Millionaire, which airs this evening, and charts his rise to fame from child prodigy to established artist.

The cameras follow him as he prepares for his latest exhibition and reveal how his parents have shielded him from the glare of the spotlight. 

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Kieron Williamson, 14, is a child prodigy. He started painting aged six and has made millions from his collections

At 10, the youngster saw his earnings soar to £1.5million and is now at around £2million as his landscape pictures inspired by his Norfolk and Cornwall surroundings gained popularity

Kieron sometimes gets up at 3am in the morning to catch the right light and will touch them up later on in his studio

Family run business 

Although reluctant at first to take on positions of power in their son's company they make sure to keep their young prodigy living a normal life and now regularly bat away attention from major brands like Samsung and Nintendo.

With zero business experience, they learned everything themselves, seeking legal and financial advice to keep things in order.

'Neither of us particularly wanted to be in a position where we were running a limited company, we didn’t know anything about it, we didn’t want to be directors,' they explain in the BBC documentary Mini Monet Millionaire .

'MINI MONET' 

Kieron first began drawing on a family trip to Cornwall in 2008.

He soon began painting and by 2009 had his first exhibition.

Kieron sold his first painting for £14,000 aged six. The young artist's most expensive painting to date went for £55,000. 

His parents Michelle and Keith manage their son's £2million net worth.

After eight years of painting landscapes he is now evolving to include portraiture.

Kieron holds an annual exhibition in Norfolk, with loyal fans from across the world buying his wo rk. 

'Who do you get to run a business like this, who do you trust, and we realised that we would be the best guardians for the business and for Kieron.' 

That also meant making difficult decisions like turning down Samsung's request for Kieron to stand on top of a mountain holding one of their products, modelling for Gap clothing and working on a campaign with Nintendo.

All grown up 

Kieron's USP was as a child prodigy painting watercolours that some art critics likened to an 'old master', but as he approaches adulthood he has to leave that aspect behind.

While there are loyal fans that will snap up anything Kieron paints, whether it's for investmen t or to admire, the youngster still has worries as he evolves from his trademark landscapes to figurative art.

Arriving at his annual exhibition held in the Picturecraft Gallery in Holt, Norfolk, he shared his concerns.

'I worry the public reaction won’t be any good, but especially because there is more portraiture this year and I'm not sure how well that will be received.'

But he has no need to worry as five of his paintings from a 40-strong collection sell for a little over £100,000.

Kieron on location in the BBC documentary, painting 'Morston' - it takes him around four hours to finish

Joined by his mentor and artist friend David Curtis, he paints the estuary which is featured in his latest collection and fetched £7,520

When he was 11, Kieron's watercolours, oils and pastels collection sold out in just minutes for £390,000. 29 of the landscapes (pictured above and below) sold for £265,000 through a pre-exhibition sale with the remaining 11 pieces fetching £125,000 the next day

His work first came onto the market in 2009 when 19 of his paintings were sold for £14,000 in a sealed-bid auction

Painting for life 

However, the money is just a bonus for home-schooled Kieron, who gets to do something he loves every day of his life.

When he reaches 18 he will take control of his finances and his business with his parents carrying on as directors, but for now his focus is painting. 

'I never think about what I would do with the money, I just want to get back into my studio and get cracking with painting. Working towards the exhibition next year. 

'I think painting is in my blood whether I like it or not. I don’t think I will ever stop painting. It’s ju st like my best friend.' 

Mini Monet Millionaire airs tonight on BBC One at 7.30pm 

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