DEVON photographer and painter Richard T. Harvey is combining both his artistic disciplines to create unique paintings featuring images from photographic negatives he found by chance in a market.

The highly unusual works will be showcased in Richard's forthcoming exhibition 'Twelve by Eight', starting next Monday (July 19) at the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity at Princetown, where he is a resident artist.

In creating the paintings, Richard, a Plymouth-based artist, takes his inspiration from the 120mm film negatives that he came across by accident in a camera shop in London's Camden Market.

The negatives featured three generations of the Guest family on holiday during the Second World War.

Richard was fascinated by the idea of incorporating the negatives into his artwork.

'The owner of the shop didn't have any information about the negatives, so I bought them on the off chance they could be interesting,' said Richard.

'After scanning them into a computer I discovered a middle class family enjoying a typical seaside family holiday during the war.

'They are typical seaside snaps, but to me what makes them interesting is that apart from the children, most of the family members are almost certainly no longer alive.'

Richard has tailored each painting to reflect the subject matter in the photograph.

The painting entitled 'Claire Guest' was inspired by the original image showing the young girl sitting on a bench. Behind her are a number of beach huts from which he drew inspiration to create an abstract background using a mixture of oil and acrylic paints.

Once the paintings are dry, he then replicates the people in the photographs in his own distinctive drawing style directly onto the canvas.

During his residency, Richard will be researching the youth arts provision the centre can offer as well as working directly with young people to help develop their skills

Opened in March last year and supported by a number of organisations, including The Duchy of Cornwall and Devon County Council, the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity offers low cost workshop space on two floors and is helping boost the local economy by connecting local businesses with other key industry sectors.

Anyone wishing to find out more should call (01822) 890828 or visit http://www.duchysquare.org">www.duchysquare.org