EBBW Vale artist Nathan Wyburn, 26, became known for his portraits of well-known figures using food and unusual materials. He talks about Britain's Got Talent, the artwork that got everything started and whether he worries he will ever run out of ideas.

“I was born in Abergavenny on October 24, 1989 but lived in Ebbw Vale with my parents. I have an older brother Kyle, who is two years older than me and a younger brother Dylan. I also have a sister Jasmine, who is 20 years younger than me.

“I went to Glyncoed School in Ebbw Vale and then Crosskeys College. I was head boy in school which was really cool; I was a bit of a nerdy kind of kid. I really enjoyed history, geography and PE and I was a sprinter and basketball player, so I did a mix of everything. Art was always a passion but it completely came out of nowhere, me and my family we have no idea where any of the creative vibe came from at all. None of my family at all were near the arts scene.

“I took art at GCSE level. My art teacher, Ms Slater, really encouraged my portraiture. We were encouraged with having a play around with everything. But I realised quickly portraiture is what I have always enjoyed and faces, faces have always really fascinated me. I think you can tell a lot about people by their face. I did history, geography, photography and art at college and then studied at the Cardiff school of fine art and design.

“I kind of found the course challenging because I went on to Britain’s Got Talent at the end of the first year and my life became quite busy and I was juggling between the two. I tried to link them both and use the food art as part of my degree. It became all a bit much, but I did enjoy it. I made some amazing friends on the course and it definitely confirmed that I wanted to be an artist for the rest of my life.

“I had started uploading videos in time lapse onto youtube of my art. Then I saw a newspaper headline about Simon Cowell, it said ‘you either love him or hate him’. So I immediately thought what if I was to do the portrait in marmite. Different newspapers and press got in touch, so I thought what if I could do it in front of him.

“I auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent. Part of the piece was done backstage but it was all split up on the table like a jigsaw puzzle so no one could tell what the portrait was going to be like. I then did it on stage like a jigsaw, it was pretty cool.

“I reached the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent. It seems like I went through it so quick, it was there and then it was gone. Going on the show was really difficult for me as I was quite a shy person at the time. I have grown a lot, but I had been bullied at school. I was bullied but turned to my art which was the only thing I felt confident in, so to take that on stage was a big thing. But they edited it a lot so I didn’t look too nervous.

“I got on well with the other contestants. Everyone was in Wembley for a week beforehand for the rehearsals. You were all together and got to socialise then.

"Art was definitely something I wanted to carry on after the semi-finals. It's kind of sink ot swim in the art world and so I instantly got back on to YouTube and did new videos. I branched out into all different types of materials like ketchup, sugar and beauty accessories.

"Out of my portraits, would say definitely the original Simon Cowell Marmite one is up there because it started it all off. At the height of the phone hacking scandal I did a portrait of Rupert Murdoch using 5,000 images of phone hacking victims. That made front page of the Guardian newspaper. I went into the shop to get something and saw it there! I also really like a portrait I did of Margaret Thatcher using Welsh coal after she passed away. It was a big talking point in terms of my art world.

"Some really fun portraits I've done are Britney Spears in peanut butter and jelly - a very American food - and Donald Trump using mexican food. Joining together humour and politics, that is a message which goes through my work.

"I did a portrait of Justin Bieber in lipstick. I drew little parts of it but a lot of the shading and tone I did by kissing the image. I did a portrait of Miley Cyrus using my tongue. I just like experimenting and playing around. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work but I get there in the end.

"I got to meet Anastacia to present her with with a portrait which was a really cool thing for me because I loved her as a child. I met Josh Groban and presented him with a portrait usng pizza. I also do a lot of charity work with the Prince's Trust, mostly the Welsh band, and I did a portrait for their 40th anniversary. It was a huge collage of everybody who had been helped through the charity.

"I had got a bit of a following from Britain's got Talent but I then appeared on a talent show in Austria, Die große Chance, in 2013 and got to the top 15 doing something similar, taking my work with two years' more experience and doing it all again. The judges knew English so the language wasn't a problem and I made lots of good friends. It was really, really good fun.

"Since then I have been going into schools and teaching a lot, giving out the message to kids of thinking outside the box. Two years ago I found out I have been put on the national curriculum as an artist to study. I'm one of the artists to be studied alongside people like Andy Warhol! It's a massive honour. I didn't expect this to have happened.

"I go into schools pretty much everywhere, but more so in South Wales and Swansea and Bridgend. I've also gone up to London. I still think it's crazy thinking people in Wales know my work. In Gwent I've visited Glyncoed School in Ebbw Vale, my old school, and Ebbw Fawr learning community. It's brilliant; I have had a few teachers email me images of what the kids have been up to, thinking outside the box and doing portraits using different things. A few parents have commented their children have gone home and started playing with their food!

"Also I have worked on my book, which is now out. The book has 80 of my portraits in, each is on its own double page explaining who it is and what it's created with.

"I am still continuing to do portraits and have got at least 200 to 300 ideas that I want to get out there. I'd definitely like to do a series of my favourite artists, people who have influenced me which would be an amazing way to enter into the art world. It is a liitle bit of a worry I will run out of ideas but when I'm taking influence of what's happening in politics there will always be a story I can draw influence from.

"I'm also a youth ambassador for Pride Cymru and help as much as I can. I've supported Pride Cymru for the past seven to eight years and have gone to the events and when I managed to get a name for myself they asked me. It just happened; all of a sudden they were looking for someone to represent the younger and the youth and they chose me. It's a massive honour and it's all about promoting that message of equality and love. I'm an ambassador for Bullies Out as well.

"I will keep going for as long as people are interested. I will always be doing something creative."