AN ART exhibition of work inspired by the blossoms in the Old Town Gardens was on show at Vu:Du.

The coffee shop and hair salon hosted the work of Caroline Day, founder of the Old Town Gardens Art Work group, until May 3.

The new paintings and prints on 90x90cm and 50x50cm canvasses feature impressions of the blossom and magnolia blooming in the Old Town Gardens.

“My passion in life is the adoration of my sons playing freely on a daily basis, on the school run and at weekends within Old Town Gardens,” said Caroline.

“It was a natural progression for me to begin a visual art project which combines my love for them and for the gardens entwined.

“My work, which includes commission pieces, often involves a mixture of photography of children, collage and paintings of the surrounding flora.

"My art work exists because of my fascination and reverence for nature during the changing seasons. The intense examination of plants gives me a great deal of pleasure and contemplative release.”

She added: “As a Swindon-born child, attending Penhill Infants in the 70s, it was a real treat, to be driven by my parents to what I remembered to be an opulent, magnificent area called Old Town - to Springfield Road. Here we would enter into the elaborate wrought iron gates of the awe-inspiring wonderland - The Old Town Gardens."

“For what always seemed to be a too short a time, we would visit the aviary, the monumental bandstand, the Bowl and the alluring, fragrant Rose Garden.

"It was the treasured memory of spending time in these captivating gardens with family that enticed me to move back home to Swindon, to raise my boys, after working within education as a teacher and senior lecturer in London for over 18 years.”

Caroline graduated with a first class honours degree from Camberwell College of Arts in 1994 before receiving a distinction at Master of Arts and qualified teacher status.

To find out more about Caroline or the exhibition, visit facebook.com/Caroline.Day.Artist or facebook.com/Old.Town.Gardens.Art