THERE'S a rare opportunity to view the work of well known artist and illustrator Bob Gale, now showing at an exhibition in Chagford.

Bob worked on the New York Times as a political artist for 25 years — but his work spans continents and styles in more than four decades of prolific paintings, drawings, illustrations and animations.

Bob, 60, has now settled in Chagford — a far cry from the Far East, where he was born, and America and Kenya, where he has spent much of his life.

He has not held an exhibition for many years, but The Big Red Sofa in Chagford is hosting what he described as 'a micro-retrospective' of his work.

Bob said: 'It's a selection of prints — it's just a glimpse of more than 40 years, mainly because of the space limit, but it covers different periods and different places.

'The prints are beautiful, I am very happy with them, they are excellent, quite extraordinary quality, so much so that some people have thought they are originals.'

Bob is collaborating with another newcomer to Chagford, Tom Glastonbury, on the technical side of the exhibition, and said his skill had been fantastic with the print reproduction for the event.

'He is absolutely meticulous — it's worked very well,' he said.

The exhibition covers images produced by Bob in London in the 1970s, when he worked for the BBC on a series of satirical animations.

There are also prints of his paintings inspired by his time in Kenya.

'I've spent a lot of time drawing and painting in Kenya, but it's probably quite different from the sort of stuff people might expect from there,' said Bob.

'I lived on an island off the coast, it was an Islamic culture and I got very absorbed in the island life, the boats, the architecture and the people. I've included some stuff in the exhibition because I thought it would appeal to people; they are very colourful, whereas most of the exhibition stuff is black and white.'

Bob has also lived in Germany — he lived in Berlin in the 1980s and watched with fascination as the wall dividing east and west came down.

'I was up on the wall that night and I became completely absorbed in all that was going on. I chronicled it in many drawings, prowling around the wall for months, although I could never get them published at the time,' said Bob.

'I had to wait years, then I had a show on the tenth anniversary in Berlin — they took up a whole exhibition.'

Bob has worked for many major publications in America, such as Time and Life magazines, the Washington Post and of course, the New York Times.

He has also illustrated books, and collaborated with American author William S Burroughs on his 'The Book of Breething'.

'Bob Gale — A Glimpes From Four Decades' comprises 17 prints and can be seen at The Big Red Sofa in Chagford until July 5.

Limited edition and standard editions are available to buy.

• Bob Gale is also taking part in the open studios event at Chagford Arts Festival.

His studio, upstairs from The Big Red Sofa at 11, The Square, will be open on July 11 and 12 between 10am and 4pm, when visitors can see more of Bob's work not included in his current exhibition.