ORIGINAL paintings by Tia Lambert went on show this week at the Ian Fearnside Gallery in Malvern's Church Street.

A dramatic use of strong colour characterises her flower and still life paintings, in both oils and watercolours.

"I tend to exaggerate colour, rather than diminish it and I love yellow, which excites the eye," she said.

"I like flowers for their strength rather than their delicacy and for the feeling of movement and growth, but I think the space around them is just as important. I like to try and get depth and diagonal movement into my work."

For her large oil paintings, the flowers have to be long-lasting, because the work can take up to three weeks to complete, whereas a watercolour might be done in three evenings.

Her favourites are sunflowers and yellow chrysanthemums, but she also likes painting dead daffodils, "because they distort into wonderful shapes".

At present she is growing cornflowers in her garden for a commissioned painting.

The collection, on show until August 23, includes one view of the Hills, painted when Ms Lambert first came to Malvern to teach painting and drawing at Malvern Hills College.

Born in London, she studied at West Surrey College of Art and Design and trained as a teacher at Brighton Polytechnic before a three-year postgraduate course at the Royal Academy Schools in London.

"I haven't done many landscapes, with David Prentice on the doorstep doing it so well, but I have it in mind for the future," she said.