SEE the Malvern Hills through the eyes of a late artist in the last chance to see his new paintings.

Preparations for an exhibition were well underway when David Prentice died at his home in Malvern Wells on May 7 and the John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh, will present A Last Look at the Malverns from Saturday, June 21 to Saturday, July 19.

The collection features 50 paintings in a wide range of sizes and the work includes mix media compositions, watercolours, pastel and oils on canvas.

Mr Prentice started painting in Malvern back in 1986, making the drive from N o r t h a m p t o n s h i r e , which inspired him to move to the town in 1990 and set up a studio in his home.

A spokesman for the gallery said his output of paintings, characterised by the distinctive profile of the hills, had been "prodigious" since moving to the town.

He said: "It has been prodigious because of the wholly uncompromising approach that David took with his work - in short he could only do a proper job.

"Proper to him was the matter of deploying his training and influences to the maximum degree - in short, getting out into his chosen environment and drawing on the spot into his sketchbooks."

He added: "This show comprises examples of most styles of the late artist's work. Further, this new group is a highly sophisticated body of work. Sadly, this will be the last opportunity of acquiring a new, original painting by the late David Prentice."

Mr Prentice explored the hills habitually until he knew every angle from memory and he would fill volumes of small sketchbooks with watercolour paintings to form the bedrock of his creativity.

The spokesman added: "From the sketches have evolved wonderfully direct reed-pen and wash drawings, fully finished watercolours of immense dignity and gravitas, glorious, expansive, colourist pastels and an amazing range of oil paintings.

"His command of oil paint has facilitated great diversity - sometimes an amazingly direct, fluid approach close to watercolour technique to produce quite representational views, while at other times he has used a combination of thin and thick areas of paint juxtaposed to create strong semi-abstract compositions."

The paintings on display in a Last Look at the Malverns are for sale priced between £975 to £12,000 and a fully illustrated catalogue is available for £15.

For more information, go to johndaviesgallery.com or call 01608 652255.