BORN and bred on the outskirts of Bath, watercolour artist Steve Hall takes his inspiration from the Wiltshire countryside in which he grew up.

A former teacher and chairman of Bath City FC, Mr Hall, 64, of Bradford Leigh, started drawing as a boy but only recently took up painting again in 1996.

He said: "I grew up in the country not far from Bath but careers, children and marriage got in the way of painting until two years after I retired, when I was finally able to sit down and have the time to work at it.

"Now it has mushroomed into a full-time job with the teaching courses, writing books and making DVDs."

Mr Hall is entirely self-taught but in his previous career he was a teacher, teaching architecture and construction, where he learnt the skills of line drawing and understanding three-dimensional form.

He says he draws his inspiration from the countryside and trying to represent the landscapes he knew as a boy.

"I try to paint the British way of life - churches and English architecture mixed in with the typical field lines and trees," he said.

"The sort of things you expect to see when you drive around Wiltshire.

"But I have also painted boats, flowers and rail engines. I am trying to capture the things that are around me and have been around me all my life."

Recently Mr Hall's passion for art has led him to write a series of books on the famous watercolour artist Edward Wesson, who died in 1983.

He said Wesson's approach to art made him realise what his own approach should be and he found the artist became a sort of icon for him.

Later he wrote a similar series of books on another artist Trevor Chamberlain and is planning a series on Alwyn Crawshaw and John Yardley too, looking at how they painted.

Last year, Mr Hall ventured into the world of television when he made his first DVD on painting, filmed in and around Bradford on Avon, including Barton Bridge, the Tithe Barn and various country scenes.

Another was made this spring in Suffolk and there is a third one planned, including an instruction booklet on how to paint.

He said: "The nice thing about it is provided I stay on my pins I can carry on indefinitely.

"And I've met so many nice people along the way."

Visit www.stevehallartist.co.uk for more information.