WAR veteran and artist Richard Willis will be exhibiting his paintings alongside his daughter Tilly in a joint exhibition next month.

Richard, now 97, served as 1st Lieutenant of a landing craft taking US troops and tanks to Normandy as part of “Operation Overlord” during WW2. He suffered a shrapnel leg wound and later became a recipient of the Legion D’honneur.

A professional artist for many years, he was the youngest ever exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1942. Much of his work has been heavily influenced by his wartime experiences, especially his fascination with the sea.

Regularly exhibiting his work at his former home Greenham Barton near Wellington, Richard is grateful to have a workspace at Nynehead Court Residential Home where he has lived for the past six years. He paints daily believing that the mental agility required to paint contributes greatly to his quality of life and longevity.

His paintings are extraordinary in their complexity and understanding of the movement and play of light on the sea, and his romantic landscapes depicting mountains, trees and rivers are particularly astonishing as he works mainly from imagination and memory.

His work is hugely popular with publishers internationally and are widely reproduced in books and as prints.

Interest in art runs in the family. He met his late wife Diana, daughter of cartoonist HM Bateman, at art school. They had four children, two of which went on to become professional artists.

Tilly is a portrait and landscape painter and she and Richard are looking forward to welcoming visitors to their exhibition.

Alongside, Richard's marine and landscape paintings, Tilly will be showcasing her still life, landscapes, portraits and paintings of Africa.

As well as the paintings, this varied studio exhibition will also have prints, cards, gifts and African textiles for sale.

Paintings by Father and Daughter takes place from Tilly's home in Bathealton as part of the 10 Parishes Festival

The festival of arts runs from September 11-19. For more information, visit www.10parishesfestival2021.org.uk