A PAINTER has found there is a big demand for her 'wobbly' townscapes.

Originals by Barbara Lamb are being snapped up as soon as they appear on the walls of her new gallery in Richmond.

Miss Lamb, 53, only began painting in 2000, after retiring from her teaching job eight years earlier for health reasons.

She takes her 'wobbly' style from the less-than-straight features of Richmond.

Her use of colours was inspired by a visit to Burano, an island off Venice, where all the buildings are brightly painted.

She said: "I lived in Darlington and I used to come to Richmond to take photographs.

"I found that the streets are wobbly, the clock tower hasn't got a straight line on it and all the shops and pubs have sloping floors. I now paint Richmond, Yarm, Darlington and my home town of Ulverston, in the Lake District."

The Barbara Lamb Sonkrai Studio is open near the Zetland Centre, in Richmond, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For more details, visit www.barbaralamb.co.uk