THE next time you visit a pub, take a moment to look at the sign outside.

We usually would not give it a second thought, but for artists like Sam Rigby, they take hours of hard work and dedication.

Sam, from Tollesbury, and his niece Georgie Baskerville, are starting up a family affair as artists and lovers of nature.

They will be holding an exhibition in West Mersea over the summer.

Sam, who is 60 and was a house decorator by trade, occasionally swaps his four-inch brush for a much smaller one.

He said: "I have always been interested in painting, for years I have been drawing cartoons for birthday and Christmas cards.

"Then about 20 years ago I illustrated a little book, it was for a local author, which was good enough to get me into college.

"I was a mature student at Colchester Institute when I was 40, I was on a foundation course and was fortunate enough to have amazing tutors.

"It opens up so many more avenues to be able to explore, I never earned a living from it, I have sold the odd piece."

Sam has a range of styles, from painting local pub signs, to capturing stunning landscapes.

He said: "I was in all the papers back in the day as I did a mural on a shop in Queen Street in Colchester. I reproduced Edward Hopper's 'Nighthawks'."

His pieces for the exhibition, to be held in Cock Barn in Coast Road, focus on marine life and sea views.

He said: "Down at Tollesbury you have an association with the sea, I have worked there and sailed there all my life so you develop a natural love for the environment, the sound of the sea and the smell of the mud."

He mainly paints boats and fish nowadays, but a few years ago he was painting pub signs such as the Donkey and Buskins near Colchester and Kings Head in Tollesbury.

Sam is not in this for the money or fame, it is all passion.

He said: "I won art prizes at school, it has always been my thing, but when you get to 16 you go one way or the other.

"You can either follow your head or your heart, plus lots of pubs are shutting down now so there's less work.

"There isn't much work for painters nowadays.

"You can just get lost in it, we are in another world, engrossed in something that starts off as a challenge.

"If you manage to get a decent piece of work out of it you feel as if you have achieved something.

"Obviously a lot ends up in the bin, it doesn't always work out."

He will display his work on Saturdays and Sundays in July and August, from 8am until 4pm, along with paintings by his niece.

Georgie Baskerville, from Suffolk, specialises in contemporary paintings of country animals.

The foundation of her art came from her childhood growing up on a working farm within the Suffolk countryside.

She completed a degree in printed textile design and is now married with four children, painting from her studio at home on a farm in the Waveney Valley.

Georgie, 34, said: "I have always drawn, I had a lovely teacher at primary school who was very encouraging.

"I would always have a sketch pad with me.

"I love painting animals as they have a nice character and it's great to capture something that is alive.

"The exhibition in Mersea will be a fitting location for my coastal work, I have painted fish, lobsters and shellfish."