Stunning paintings of the Manx landscape will be on show in Port St Mary from this weekend.

An exhibition of Graham Rider’s work will be on display at Studio 42 from Sunday and will run through until mid-July with a break during TT race week.

Graham says he tries to give the viewer a sense of being there at the scene he painted.

‘Using Oil paint I predominantly paint landscapes where I try to capture the energy and rhythms of the natural world,’ he explained. ‘Realistic in approach my technique is designed to give a sense of what it is like to be present, to feel an immediacy in the image and the brush marks, to use tone and colour to strengthen a response in the viewer.’

Graham is a prolific painter and it has been a major part of his life embarking on a course almost 50 years ago.

‘Since I started a Foundation course in Art and Design in 1976 I have not stopped painting and wanting to make paintings,’ he said, ‘and although there have been dips it’s been constant.

‘I went on to get a degree in painting at Norwich School of Art as it was then. I then maintained myself through part time teaching and sales for many years and had several solo shows including one in the heart of London’s west end.’

But it has been his time in the Isle of Man that has really inspired Graham to create his striking landscape paintings.

‘It’s the shows I’ve had over the last eight years in the Isle of Man have been very special to me,’ he explained, ‘with a wonderful landscape that is memorable and often dramatic with a public that appreciates it.

‘I will never forget walking onto the beach at Rue point and encountering a bright sandy beach with blue/green sea, blue/purple shadows of the grasses and in October with nobody in sight! This experience led to ‘To the Lighthouse’ painting and many more.

‘I recently showed and sold a mountain painting at the ’Home’ exhibition organised by the wonderful Creative Network at the Manx Museum and hope to make more. The Island is certainly a great place to make art.’

Studio 42 is open from Wednesday to Friday, 10am-5pm and on Saturdays, from 10am-4pm.