THE 'joyous, magical vision' of a Dorset artist will be celebrated.

In the build-up to his 95th birthday in October, the work of Philip Sutton will be celebrated at Sladers Yard in West Bay from now until Saturday, July 8.

Born in Poole on October 20, 1928, Mr Sutton left school at 14 and worked for three years in a drawing office.

Mr Sutton's tutor recognised him as ‘a gifted, intuitive painter’ and learned his unusual woodcutting techniques whilst travelling across Europe.

He married his late wife Heather in June 1953 and the pair had four children together, living across the country and the world in London, Suffolk, Australia, Fiji, Cornwall and Wales before settling in Bridport in 2014.

While he was away, Mr Sutton became established as one of the British painters who epitomised the exuberant sixties, returning with a full exhibition of tropical paintings.

His work has seen him design stamps for the Post Office, a poster for the London Underground and crockery for the Royal Academy restaurant. 

Mr Sutton also contributed to the rose logo for the Labour Party, while a BBC documentary has been made about him and in 1977, a retrospective of his work was held at the Royal Academy.

The long-running show - called A Colourist's World - is set to feature paintings from Mr Sutton's family collection, as well as pieces released now for the first time, alongside his most recent works.

With more than 100 artworks, this is said to be 'one of the finest selling exhibitions' of Mr Sutton’s work. 

This is his fourth major solo show at Sladers Yard and Mr Sutton still paints every day 'expressing his appreciation of the world around him'. 

For more information, contact Anna Powell on 01308 459511 wor email gallery@sladersyard.co.uk

The gallery (postcode DT6 4EL) and cafe is open Wednesday to Saturday from 10am-4.30pm, while the cafe is also open Sundays from 10am-3.30pm.

Visit www.sladersyard.co.uk for more information on Sladers Yard and the art show.