THE famous Scarlet Lady on the Virgin aeroplanes has flown back to Swindon this week to launch Ken White: The Big Picture art exhibition.

The Virgin logo, known in every airport around the world, was painted by Ken for Virgin Atlantic in 1984, when Richard Branson was his patron.

The Scarlet Lady was originally designed to be just one of a series adorning the airline’s aircraft. When Ken painted the second, called Maiden Japan, Virgin objected because she wasn’t smiling.

“I had to go back to try and paint a smile on her face,’’ said Ken. But it proved an impossible task and the Scarlet Lady became the only emblem on all the planes.

The Swindon artist painted the original directly onto the aircraft with a spraygun plus an airbrush for the delicate work.

Ken said: “I had to walk a long way because she had such long legs.’’ The 16ft Scarlet Lady banner is in Swindon this week as part of the artist’s exhibition at the Post Modern Art Gallery in Theatre Square. Ken is artist in residence from 11am to 4pm every day to chat to art lovers about his work.

The exhibition includes a mixture of his new additions and some of his early work. These include a front cover of Cream magazine, which he painted in 1973 featuring David Bowie. “I also did Alice Cooper and Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull but the magazine kept the artwork. David Bowie’s cover has recently been on show in the Glam exhibition in Liverpool,’’ said Ken.

Also on show in Swindon is the original artwork that Ken did for XTC’s album Black Sea.

“I have the artwork all framed up showing people how I created the various pieces.”

Ken learnt many of his skills working as a sign painter in the railway works in Swindon.

He started at the age of 15, following in the footsteps of his brother, dad and granddad.

On show are paintings including Gasworks and Going To Work, which features his grandmother washing the front steps as his granddad went off to work.

Ken’s exhibition at the Post Modern continues until May 2 and some of his works are for sale.

The Post Modern Art Gallery in Swindon's Theatre Square is run by volunteer artists who campaigned to get there own studio and show space in the town. 

The artists spent months doing up the Post Modern which is now a thriving art gallery space that also lends itself to craft markets.

Ken will be in residence at the gallery every day of his exhibition to chat about his paintings.