The Limited Edition
 
UNFRAMED — £197
450 × 305 mm
Complimentary UK delivery
 
PROFESSIONALLY FRAMED — £297
600 × 455 mm
Presented in a traditional 2.5-inch black wooden frame with a light-coloured insert.
Framed delivery calculated at checkout.
 
Each edition is produced on Exhibition Matte 380gsm canvas.
 
Every print is individually signed and numbered by Ian Mackenzie and accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity.
 
Unframed prints are carefully packaged in a protective delivery tube.
 
Complimentary collection is available from my studio in Penarth, South Wales for both framed and unframed options.
 
At 9:13am on 21 October 1966, time stopped in Aberfan.
 
Among the objects recovered from the devastation was a damaged clock, its hands stopped at 9:13.
 
It was recovered by a man who had joined the rescue operation. Sixty years later, his son would help me bring that clock's extraordinary story to life through a painting.
 
The hands holding the clock in 09:13 are not imagined. They belong to the son, representing his father and creating a deeply personal connection between two generations and one of the most poignant moments in Welsh history.
 
09:13 is my tribute to the lives lost at Aberfan, to those who responded to the tragedy, and to the importance of remembering their stories.
 
Now available as a strictly limited edition of 75 signed and numbered giclée prints on canvas.
 
The Story Behind “09:13”
 
On the morning of 21 October 1966, tragedy struck the Welsh mining village of Aberfan when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and surrounding homes.
116 children and 28 adults lost their lives.
 
Among the objects recovered from the devastation was a damaged clock. Its hands had stopped at 9:13.
 
The clock was recovered by Mike Flynn senior, who had joined the rescue operation at Aberfan. It would later be kept by his son, Mike Flynn, before eventually becoming part of the national collection at St Fagans National Museum of History.
 
For me, the clock is far more than an object marking a particular time.
 
Its damaged face and hands, forever stopped at 9:13, have become a silent witness to a moment that changed a community and became part of the history of Wales.
 
Sixty years on, that clock and the human story connected with it became the inspiration for 09:13.
 
Creating “09:13”
 
As a child, I was vaguely aware of the Aberfan disaster through adult conversations and the occasional black-and-white photograph.
 
It was only when I began creating my Heritage Series that I started to wonder whether it might be possible to capture something of the significance of Aberfan in a piece of artwork, and, in some small way, help preserve its story for generations to come.
 
I visited the clock recovered from the disaster, now housed at St Fagans National Museum of History in South Wales. Seeing it for myself made me determined to explore the story further.
 
With some trepidation, I traced Mike Flynn junior, whose father had recovered the clock while taking part in the rescue operation at Aberfan, and sent him a message.
 
Waiting for his reply, I began to question whether I had done the right thing. I was conscious that by approaching him I might be bringing deeply personal family memories and emotions back to the surface.
 
I needn't have worried.
 
Mike replied with his full support and, remarkably, agreed to pose for me as his father, holding a replica of the clock so that I could create the reference for the painting.
 
That changed the work for me.
 
The hands in 09:13 would not simply be a pair of hands holding a clock. They would be Mike's hands, the hands of the son representing his father and creating a direct family connection back to Aberfan in 1966.
 
His presence became as important to the painting as the clock itself.
 
And so, I started to paint.