8-Year-old Boy Who Taught Himself to Paint was Invited to Hold an Exhibition–And Counted His First Sales

March 17, 2025 journo

Kevin Kovacs, 8, from Somerset, holds his first solo art exhibition –SWNS

An eight-year-old artist was invited to present his watercolors in a local exhibition—where he has now sold his first paintings.

Kevin Kovacs is self-taught and started drawing when he was a toddler. He was invited to put together his own solo art exhibit at the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre in Taunton, England, after his mother started sharing his creations on social media.

The young artist from Somerset even set his own prices for the artwork, which will be displayed until April 29.

“I am happy that people can see my art on the walls—and I hope for another exhibition in London.”

Kevin has been exposed to creativity and art his whole life, as both his mom and dad are keen photographers.

“My husband photographs nature, wildlife, and landscapes, so Kevin was around cameras all the time and we loved to draw with him when he was a toddler.

“We bought him all kinds of mediums—paints, watercolors, and all kinds of art supplies—and I could see he was enjoying it when he was around two.”

When Kevin turned five he started sketching, and he took inspiration from all the trips with his family to coastal towns around South West England, his mother Natalia told the SWNS news agency.

Kevin’s painting of Watchet in Somerset, which is one of his favorite subjects – SWNS

He loved sketching buildings and whenever they would be sitting down in one of the villages he would be drawing. Afterward, Kevin would use Natalia’s phone to take photos of his surroundings and begin drawing the images he’d captured.

He then began using color when Natalia showed him winning artwork from competitions around the world. There was one winning piece from India that was very colorful—and that was the point he started adding color.

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Once people started to take an interest in Kevin’s work, Natalia decided to create an Instagram page for her son, so she could post all of his art in one place: “People were asking me all the time about his art.”

Kevin Kovacs with paintings in his exhibition – SWNS

A volunteer from the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre then reached out, showing an interest in hosting an exhibition of Kevin’s work, and he ‘happily’ agreed.

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“He is obviously very happy. We went on the first day the exhibition opened and a couple of people wanted to buy his art.

“He’s a natural. You can see he’s now really into boats, and he tells me it comes very easily to him.

“I remember being told by other artists boats are very hard to do – but for him, it’s easy!”

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