A local artist has been showing off his beautiful paintings of bygone Bracknell.

Martin Bright, who has lived in the area for 50 years, moved to Bracknell to oversee art at Wokingham Borough College.

Mr Bright gained an interest in painting scenes of urban imagery and started produces pictures of Bracknell town centre and surrounding areas.

“I did my own improvisations of scenes inside music clubs, or Bracknell High Street,” he said.

“Today I’m very interested in Swinley Forest and I have done a number of paintings of there. As far as the town centre is concerned I made one painting of an aerial view overlooking Bracknell from the top of Bracknell College.”

Mr Bright mainly painted pictures of Bracknell town centre 10 or 15 years ago and reminisces of a time when our town looked very different.

He usually paints these urban scenes on very large canvases which are around four feet tall and long.

“I have shown in all sorts of galleries, but the art world is very pushy. I have had several successes in the past and have exhibited at the former art gallery in South Hill Park.”

The Bracknell gallery, which has now since closed, opened around 30 years ago and ran for 20 years.

Both nationally and internationally famous artists exhibited their work there, and Mr Bright remembers the gallery as a quintessential part of Bracknell town’s art scene.

“One such famous artist that showed his work there was Micheal Porter,” he said. “His work was  collected internationally and he had a one man show there a number of year ago.

“Lots of talented artists all over Britain and of course a large number from across Berkshire showed off their pieces at the gallery. From all over Bracknell, Reading, and Wokingham, it was lovely.”

Mr Bright said that the gallery was one of the best places for hanging paintings in the Thames Valley.

“It was one large substantial room with only a few windows and lightly painted all white. It had room for sculptures in the middle and space for paintings around the sides.

“Off it was a smaller room with no windows and you could walk through them and come out into the bar upstairs. It was lovely.”

Mr Bright still engages in some artistic activity, but instead of pushing for his work to be exhibited he now finds pleasure in going out to watch live music.