A SELF-TAUGHT artist who took up painting just seven months ago is holding his first exhibition at Tavistock Library.
Monty Shulberg began to paint as therapy, after he suffered a brain tumour and a stroke and became very depressed.
With the encouragement of his wife, Victoria, and armed with books from the library, he began to produce work in mixed media and watercolours.
Monty said: 'Once I had started, I didn't seem to be able to stop — I get completely lost in it. It's like entering a completely different world.'
His library exhibition includes a wide range of images which he has painted from memories, imagination and his own photographs.
He said he felt 'a bit presumptious' when chief librarian Moira Andrews asked him to exhibit his work — and now his paintings have caught the eye of Tavistock's Mayflower Galleries.
'I find the whole thing very exciting, I'm completely staggered; it's a real pat on the back. I hope it's a guide to other people who have been depressed and are wondering what to do — each day is a new adventure for me,' he said.
Until his retirement through ill-health, Monty worked as a consultant audiologist, specialising in helping children.
Ironically, his own hearing has been affected by his stroke.
Monty Shulberg's exhibition runs until November 19 and is open during normal library hours.
His work will then be available in Mayflower Galleries in Tavistock.