A much-respected doctor from Long Buckby has swapped his stethoscope for paint brushes.

Norman How's exhibition - Travels with A Sketchbook - is now open to visitors at Long Buckby Library and Hub and runs for the whole of this month.

The retired doctor said: "I was a medical student and then a house physician at University College and Hospital London (UCH). From there I worked in hospitals in Barnet, north London and later in Birmingham, where I met Marie.

"She was a student midwife. We started in family medicine eventually moving to Long Buckby in 1964, and acquired three boys and a lovely daughter.

"Not much room left for sketching then. But holidays were times when I could draw, often with my children - we have made some good illustrated holiday diaries."

Norman was a GP at The Long Buckby Practice from 1964 to 1995. He started to paint more seriously when he retired in 1995.

He added: "I joined a class Nora O’Keefe was running in the Community Centre, and later classes at the Percival Guildhouse in Rugby.

"It was here that I started to branch out from watercolours to oils and pastels; wildlife to landscapes and a few portraits. Marie became an active patch worker and quilter, and we would share ideas about colour and design."

Norman said he gets a 'buzz' from his work and is always trying to better himself.

"Painting is unique in that one has to focus entirely on the subject; in that sense it is like meditation," he added.

"So, one doesn’t worry about the results - although it’s nice when you feel you’ve got it right. I realise that for many painters now it is important that they have a message - convey something, often disturbing and not entirely ‘beautiful’."

Norman summed up: "All I am trying to do is act as a mirror to reflect the wonders of our world and the glory of God’s creation. That is a message enough."

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