Himley Hall exhibition pays tribute to life and work of West Midlands artist

More than 100 oil and watercolour paintings and drawings by Lez Bramwell and members of his family are being exhibited at the hall through February and March.

Mr Bramwell, who died in 2022 at the age of 91, was a prominent painter in the 1970s and 1980s, with many of his works depicting West Cornwall, an area he lived in for many years.

In the 1980s, his work focused on smaller watercolour paintings, rather than easel oil paintings, due to restricted movement due to old army injuries worsening.

His son Stephen set up the exhibition, which includes a few of his works as well, and spoke about his fathers work as an artist.

He said: "He was predominantly an oil painter early on, but due to his mobility issues, he had to go smaller and did the watercolours, which we had intended to put in an exhibition years ago, but he wasn't up to it at the time.

"He did recover to a large extent when he moved back to the Midlands and was able to do more, including performing on stage again."

Mr Bramwell said his house was full of his fathers paintings and said that it was a great opportunity for more people to see the work his father did and learn more about the man behind them.

He said: "There's quite a few of them, with the wall jammed full of them at home, and what is being exhibited at Himley is the ones he kept to the side for any exhibition.

"The exhibition is a memorial one, dedicated to him, and is free for people to come and see within the hall, with no fee to get in.

"Most of them are by him, as well as a few tiny watercolour ones by my mother and other members of the family."

The Work of Lez Bramwell runs until April 7 at Himley Hall.