THE current show at the Greenstage Gallery in Bishops Frome features the work of the late Chris Howells, who studied graphic design at Stourbridge College of Art and Design and was a glass designer and engraver before becoming a full-time artist in 1977.

In 1985 Chris met a Fine Art publisher whose influence led to his work being printed on limited edition Wedgwood plates, the first called the Four Seasons and the most successful, Country Days, the top selling plate collection of its year.

Chris and his wife Maggie moved to Malvern, where he continued to concentrate on landscapes and began to develop his still life paintings.

n this show we will be exhibiting a range of different work painted by Chris throughout his life. Including pieces loaned to the Gallery by his family and collectors of his work as well as pictures from his studio which are still available for sale.

“The vibrant palette which he used was what attracted me to his paintings," says Will Pudge, owner of Greenstage Gallery. "I felt the colour was particularly evocative of the way the Malvern Hills makes people who have lived in there shadow feel, that uplifting feeling of history, place and home.

"He must have just started developing his fruit series, when we met. He told me how he was keen to paint a subject which interested him, after spending many years painting more traditional scenes for his clients. In the last few years these pieces progressed in all manner of forms sometimes he played with angles and perspective, sometimes just with setting and more recently incorporating all aspects of his work onto the canvas.”

The exhibition runs until Sunday, October 5 at The GreenStage Gallery, Hop Pocket Craft Centre, Bishops Frome. For further details, call 01885 490839