A SWINDON artist had his work on GWR exhibited in Swindon's branch of John Lewis ahead of an art auction for Brighter Futures on October 25.

John Webb painted and sketched parts of the old railway works after being inspired by his late father, who worked in the iconic factories.

Some of John's watercolours had been painted in the works themselves as far back as 50 years ago.

He happily showed and discussed his work with John Lewis customers at a Meet the Artist event over the weekend.

The 74-year-old from Old Town said: "My father worked as a foreman fitter and he taught me how to paint.

"He wanted to become an artist but he died in 1947, so I took up painting to carry on what he wanted to do.

"I was one of the first pupils to study at Swindon Art College and painted a lot in my 20a,

"I wanted to make a record of things before they were all knocked down.

"Then did all sorts of jobs, but when I retired in 2016, I started painting again.

"I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands and wanted to do something for myself after years of working for other people.

"I'd never had any of my work exhibited until 2017, when my work was shown at the Central Library.

"After that, GWH got in touch because they wanted to exhibit my art in their hallway, then someone from John Lewis saw them and invited me to exhibit some pieces here."

"I jumped at the chance, it's great."

Tickets for the Brighter Futures art auction cost £10 from John Lewis' customer service team.