David Birtwhistle, Worcester’s best known contemporary artist, is holding what is likely to be his last ever exhibition at his gallery Birties in Friar Street.

Birtwhistle 2012 will open tomorrow and run until the end of the month.

After that, there will be a general exhibition into the new year and then Mr Birtwhistle and his wife Linda aim to retire.

“We have been running the gallery for 33 years and now want a rest,” he said.

“Our daughter Rebecca wasn’t even born when the gallery opened on November 17, 1979, but she has developed into an extremely talented artist and some of her work will be included in this show.

“Father and daughter artists exhibiting their work together are extremely rare.”

Mr Birtwhistle originally opened the gallery with Michael Westby, who has since retired, when they were both junior partners at the Worcester architectural practice of Henry Gorst.

“We were told the life-expectancy of the project was somewhat less than two years, but over the third of a century the gallery has survived while many other galleries have come and gone.

“The big idea behind Framed was to offer contemporary fine art which was both accessible and affordable for and about Worcester.”

Mr Birtwhistle has painted and exhibited his work all over Britain and has become particularly well known for his scenes of Worcester Cathedral and the river Severn.

In recent years he created the cathedral image used on the front page masthead of the Worcester News.