A NEW series of paintings by a leading Dorchester artist will be on show from August 30.

The landscape drawings by Colin Willey will be exhibited at Gallery on the Square in Poundbury until October 1.

Colin has been a professional painter for more than 20 years, after graduating from Cheltenham College of Art in 1995. He kicked off his artistic career as a finalist in the Windsor and Newton Young Artists Competition at the Mall Galleries, London, in 1997 and 2001.

The leading artist has a long devotion to the Dorset landscape, painting outdoors throughout the year in order to capture the shifting moods of the coast and the countryside. He often revisits the same places, only to create a completely different piece of art.

"The season, the weather and the light mean that nothing ever looks the same," Colin said. "It all changes very quickly. You need to work fast, trying to capture something of the moment before it changes.

“Sometimes it is about battling with the wind, the rain and the flies while you try to concentrate on the drama of an approaching rainstorm or the bursts of sunlight through the clouds.”

Colin's pictures can be found in various private exhibits, and in 2011 several of his canvases were selected for inclusion in the permanent collection of the House of Lords.

Gallery on the Square regularly displays paintings, prints and ceramics by Dorset artists. For more information about the gallery, including Colin's upcoming exhibition, visit www.gallerypoundbury.co.uk