Brian Bennett who died in January 2011 at the age of 69, was a long-serving and energetic member of the Southwold Art Circle Committee and has been our Exhibition Treasurer for a number of years. He is very much missed and we offer our deep sympathies to his widow, Miriam.

Brian and Miriam lived in Hounslow, Middlesex until 1997, then moved to Suffolk. As an artist, he was self-taught and became a serious painter in his mid-thirties. He was the winner of the Ealing Open Art Competition in 1987 and exhibited widely in London boroughs and in Suffolk. His work is in many private collections.

Brian's earlier paintings were mainly representational and in Suffolk he became interested in exploring surface textures - cracked wood, rusting metal, peeling paint - on details of boats, doors, barns, fishing sheds and the like. This led in turn to the more abstract imagery of his later work.

With the guidance and help of Miriam, we offer this selection from his considerable oeuvre as a small tribute to Brian's life and talent.