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A SPIRITUAL healer told Psychic News last month how an item in her “dead” mother’s handbag confirmed the identity of a spirit communicator drawn by psychic artist Tony Katz.

		TONY KATZ “I had ‘seen’ him coming out of a cabin and walking down a ship’s corridor towards me.”

Tony, who lives in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, creates atmospheric landscapes and also draws portraits of family members, friends and pets who have passed on.

“I get these spirit images when I awake in bed from a semi-sleep,” said Tony. “They come to me when I am not expecting or thinking of anything or anyone and I have to get up and do a small sketch in case I forget the spirit person’s face.”

Tony outlined how two recent drawings brought back memories for fellow members of Westcliff National Spiritualist Church and Centre, Essex. At first, one of them went unrecognised until a chance discovery.

On April 10, Tony “awoke with the image of a slim man wearing a formal naval jacket, but wearing a dark beret.

“I had ‘seen’ him coming out of a cabin and walking down a ship’s corridor towards me.”

Tony volunteered with church president Gloria Millis to undertake a demonstration of spirit art for its awareness group held on April 20 and “felt very strongly that I should take the portrait to that evening’s event.”

He showed the picture to Shelley Cox, a healer at the church, who did not feel the man in the image was anyone she knew.

HERE is the “dead” uncle who returned (above) along with a comparison photo (right).

Shelley, 53, told Psychic News: “Tony showed me this lovely picture he brought along and said, ‘I’m sure this is for you.’ I wasn’t really concentrating and didn’t look at the picture properly.

“I did not want to take it away from someone else, but nobody recognised it. Tony had put a fair amount of information with it. I could accept a lot of it, so took the drawing home.

“I rolled it up, left it in my bedroom and didn’t think too much about it for a couple of days.” When Shelley was “rummaging in my wardrobe looking for something completely unconnected, my mum’s handbag fell out.

“My mum Lorraine passed on over six years ago. I said to her: ‘Sorry, Mum. I’ve got your bag all dusty leaving it in the wardrobe.’

“When I opened the handbag and found the Order of Service for my Uncle John’s funeral – he passed seven or eight years ago – that must have been the last time the bag was used.”

When Shelley looked at the photo on the card she went: “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry, Uncle John. I owe you an apology. That picture is you!”

Shelley added: “Because in Tony’s drawing he had his naval uniform on I didn’t recognised him, as I’d never seen Uncle John dressed like that with his beret on.

“I knew he had been in the merchant navy all his working life. He travelled all over the world and brought me back shells from places like Singapore and New Zealand.

“My uncle’s name was John Wilkins. He and my mother lived in Poplar, East London, but their father was a lifeboatman, who was killed in World War Two.

“They went abroad for a time and lived near Niagara Falls before returning to England.”

Uncle John “was a lovely man. I used to love going to visit him. He was a quiet man in life and has never come through before. Tony’s gift is awesome.”

		A CHILD also provided pictorial proof - Bill's daughter Emma (above) along with a comparison photo (right).

Tony also described a second instance when one of his drawings was recognised. He told Psychic News: “A healing circle is carried out at the church on Wednesdays.

“Afterwards, we hold an awareness group and try various healing methods, different types of spirit communication, including sitting in a cabinet-type structure, sometimes being inspired from Spirit to talk and at other times experimenting with table-tipping.

“Bill Fletcher, who was president of the church for a number of years and also voted Spiritualist of the Year a few years ago, is always in charge of table-tilting.

“Very often his daughter in Spirit comes through to him. Unfortunately, Emma passed at the age of nine due to a road accident in 1990.”

Tony said that Bill “has never described Emma. I’ve never seen a photo of her, but on June 20 I awoke with an image of a young girl wearing her hair in pigtails and a lovely happy almost laughing smile.

“I was told by Spirit to take the sketch along to the awareness group on June 29. When I showed it to Bill, he recognised his daughter immediately.

“Although the photo of Emma has a different hairstyle to my drawing, the features of her face are very similar.

“She shows herself to be very happy to come through for me to draw her for her family. Bill also understood a lot of the information I had written down.

“I have since spoken to Bill’s wife, Ann, who confirmed that their daughter sometimes wore her hair in the style depicted on my sketch.” Ann was so moved by the drawing that she wanted to have it framed.

Tony, 79, and his wife Beverley have frequently shared a platform together at Spiritualist churches and meetings around the country.

While Tony created psychic portraits, Beverley would link to the “sitter” and communicate with them to gain more information that might help their loved ones to recognise them.

Shelley Cox added that it is “wonderful to see Tony in action when he draws. It’s quite quick.