ARTIST Dominic Richardson described his journey as an artist as akin to the trekking the craggy mountain peaks and sprawling moors he paints.

“It’s about perseverance,” he said, “and not letting the knock-backs keep you down. Instead you have to keep moving forward to see the end result.”

Dominic speaks not only of his art, but his own life experiences.

At two years old he was involved in a car accident, which resulted in a brain injury, causing tunnel vision, partial sightedness and paralysis, that has affected most of the right-hand side of his body.

Despite this difficult start, Dominic refused to let anything deter him perusing his passion for art.

He now paints as often as he can from his home in Alston, having converted his family’s spare bedroom into his own private studio, “and covered it entirely in paint”, he grinned.

Finding it difficult to paint with a brush, Dominic found his own technique for applying paint, by using the fingers on his left hand, and sometimes a pallet knife.

A passionate walker, his early work was inspired by the sublime scenery of the Lake District and Northumberland moors he was visiting, places which he described as having “that something special about them, which makes you want to keep that view in a frame on your wall.” He said: “I’d take a camera with me every time I went somewhere new, so I could recapture that moment, and then later create it on canvas at home through oil and acrylic paints.”

“These landscapes will be recognisable to a lot of people, but everyone sees them differently. I wanted the colours and the details to express my perspective of those views, and the emotions I feel when I’m there.”

Always up for a challenge, Dominic has devoted the last few years of his life to developing his artistic skills, through experimenting with new techniques, with help from mentors and fellow artists Sarah Dalton, of The Allendale Forge Studios, and Tony Hall.

“I wanted to paint trees, because I knew with their detail that they would be hard for me to create with only my fingers, so I had to get creative.

“I began working with different printing styles like lino and string, which I could bend to create each branch.

“Now I’ve become a little obsessed with looking at trees everywhere I go, and analysing their details.”

Dominic’s work is currently on display in his biggest exhibition to date, and is made up of two collections ‘View from the Tunnel’, A selection of David’s earlier pieces, and ‘New Horizons’, which features his latest work, the new styles he has been developing.

“I thought ‘New Horizons’ was a good name because these pieces show how I am challenging myself.” Dominic said.

“I wanted the exhibition to capture my journey and development, so it’s designed in a way that visitors can follow my paintings from the early days painting o to my latest work where I’m challenging myself.”

If hosting his own art exhibition wasn’t enough though, Dominic is also in the process of completing his Gold Arts Award, a Level 3 qualification in art.

On what the future holds, he said he’ll continue to “give everything a go,” and keep pushing boundaries in both his art, and his life.

‘View from the Tunnel’ runs from Saturday October 27– Saturday November 24 at the Queen’s Hall, Hexham.