Artist stoked at success of Stratford station art exhibition

A PAINTER was so stoked about the success of his art exhibition at Stratford railway station it could become a regular feature on the timetable.

Vintage Trains, the heritage steam train operator, offered residents an opportunity to journey to Birmingham and back aboard a Great Western Railway “Castle” class steam locomotive.

And at the end of the line in Stratford, painter John Austin – a Fellow of the Guild of Railway Artists – held an exhibition of his works at the community hub room where the volunteer-run Friends of the Shakespeare Line operates.

Many of the scenes that John paints are commissioned by customers, and his exhibition displayed some of his latest works, including a painting of a GWR “King” class locomotive stood at Birmingham’s Snow Hill in the station’s heyday.

Birmingham-born John, who now lives in Dawlish in Devon, was delighted with the number of people who visited the exhibition.

Several of his paintings and prints were sold.

Neil Morgan of the Friends of the Shakespeare Line said: “This is the first time we have used the room for the art exhibition, and given the success of John’s weekend here, it will not be the last. We are already working with John to repeat it with another exhibition soon.”