Artist Graham sells prints to raise funds for village
An amateur artist is putting himself in the fame and selling prints to help keep his home village tidy.
Reverend Graham Hartnell, aged 70, an Associate Minister at St Joseph's at Merry Hill, has always enjoyed painting as a hobby and used to work in oils but switched to watercolours about 20 years ago.
His subjects include flowers, birds, butterflies, portraits, racehorses, aircraft and a wide variety of subjects, although he said that he particularly enjoyed painting landscapes.
As a member of the Best Kept Village team at Wombourne, Reverend Hartnell has now decided to sell prints of his work and agreed to donate £5 of each sale of £15 to the team.
He has already raised £100.
Reverend Hartnell, a former aeronautical engineer at Uxbridge, said: "Painting is my hobby and when we moved to Wombourne five years ago I decided to use the conservatory as a studio.
"I used to paint in oils until my wife, Ann, complained about the smell of turpentine and linseed and so I switched to watercolours.
"I often spend about 70 hours on each work and paint for my own pleasure and have never exhibited my work.
"I decided to put my prints on sale through the team's website and am delighted they will help work to keep the village tidy."
Alison Brasier-Creagh, one of the Best Kept Village team, said: "I am absolutely thrilled by the money raised and we will be able to buy more litter pickers and things on the list such as plants for the containers around the village.
"Wombourne will be alive with colour thanks to the generosity of Reverend Hartnell and there will definitely be no litter in the village."
Report by Sue Smith
