Charlie Higson opens art gallery in Bath for school friend

Young Bond author Charlie Higson visited to Bristol, UK, to open an exhibition for an old school friend.

The show, at the Victoria Art Gallery, features several years of work by Bath-based artist Peter Wells.

Mr Wells, who lives in Bathampton, asked the actor and writer to the opening, having been friends with him since secondary school.

The pair, who were in the same art class, both aspired to be artists from a young age.

The Tamil Nadu 27 exhibition is a collection of nine pictures done in three styles.

Mr Higson, who has written a series of James Bond novels aimed at younger readers, said: "I really love his work and these particular pictures are fascinating. I love the three-stage process and they are very beautiful pictures.

"I have always been interested in art and it was always our plan to make it a career.

"Peter has always done very well and stuck with it."

Mr Wells lives in India for six months every year, in southern Tamil Nadu, and had been working on the exhibition for seven years.

Everything in his pictures comes from the region, including pressed flowers and leaves and torn pieces of religious posters.

Mr Wells said: "I have always enjoyed doing collages and I draw inspiration from everything I see and read, including magazines.

"I have been doing these images for a long time and they have toured the world twice already."

The exhibition continues at the gallery until September 7.

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