AN exhibition of paintings by local artist Wayne Jefferson will open in the Willis Museum next week.

Land Marks contains a large number of colourful oil paintings of particular locations in and around Hampshire and Dorset by Dr Jefferson.

It will run in the Top of the Town museum from February 22 until March 29.  

Born and brought up in north Hampshire, he attended school in Basingstoke before studying at Winchester School of Art and at Hornsey Art College. He was later head of art at both Brighton Hill School and Kingston University.

Dr Jefferson said: “I have always painted from life. Nature is alive and always changing. My starting point is always the actual scene at a particular time and each painting captures some fragment of this individual landscape.

“Although the colours I use are bold and imaginative, I ensure there is a vital harmony to the work which draws together and unifies the composition.

"Painting for me is a reacting, feeling endeavour, where I experience an interaction between the subject matter and the act of painting. There are so many variations of seasons, weather, time of day and personal mood that I am sure that there will always be new visual challenges for me in the local landscape.”