A FORMER headteacher has launched his third major art exhibition at The Mariana Art Gallery in St Briavels.

Keith Rowlands OBE, who was head at The Dell Primary School in Chepstow, is exhibiting a collection of over 20 paintings and gicleê prints until Monday, November 9.

Following on from previous exhibitions in the Wye Valley in 2013 and Taurus Crafts, Lydney in 2014 Keith’s reputation as a landscape artist in oils on canvas is now widely established; with some of his patrons acquiring several works.

He said: “I am delighted that the gallery director, Mariana Robinson, has asked me to exhibit alongside her own work. The exhibition title Watermark was chosen by Mariana to reflect the pervasive theme of water throughout my collection.

“A long stretch of the Mounton Brook threads through my garden on the edge of Shirenewton, near Chepstow, and so it is not surprising that with lily ponds and herons, kingfishers and dippers as regular visitors and my love of nature, of valley and shorelines; that these themes feature strongly in my work.”

Many people in Monmouthshire will remember Keith as the former headteacher of Trellech, Overmonnow Primary in Monmouth in the 1980s and headteacher of The Dell School in Chepstow, where he was headmaster from its opening in 1989 until his retirement in 2007.

The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm (except Tuesday/Wednesday).