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The 61-year-old has been painting for as long as he can remember - ever since his parents moved to Whitefield in the Fifties. With his Dad working as an engineer, life for the youthful John revolved around his twin loves of trains and drawing.

Public art: Mawbey discusses his work

"When I was five or six, I started copying Christmas cards,” says John. “I’ve always loved art. Dad worked in power stations all over the world and used to bring home layouts and plans which I used to draw on."

That early promise flourished as John grew into his teenage years. Art college followed and the chance came to make his living through painting - the fulfillment of a dream.

"I’ve always loved art, I suppose after seeing some of the great works as a lad - especially The Fighting Temeraire by Turner. I will always remember the first time I saw it in 1959. I had studied it at college and thought it was fabulous."

"I remember an early exhibition I had at the Central Library in Manchester. I was really pleased as I sold 29 of the 36 pictures on show."

Staging exhibitions is the conventional way for artists to spread the word about their work. However, it hasn't turned out to be John’s most successful way of working.

Central Library: as I see it

"A lot of my commissions come from people just asking me to work for them when I'm already out and about working. I was a bit apprehensive at first but if you're working in a pedestrian-friendly city like Manchester a car’s not that good. So you have to just sit out. But I've never had any bother. People are normally friendly enough."

Comparisons with other contemporary 'impressionist' Mancunian artists, Michael Gutteridge and Liam Spencer don't last long: whereas Spencer works from photographs, Mawbey prefers to work mainly in the field, painting directly to canvas from his folding chair.

He sees himself as a traditional craftsman who treats things like ‘perspective’ and ‘likeness’ with utmost respect, selling his work for anything between £100 and £1,000.

"Of all my work, my night scenes are my forte. The real challenge is to get the perspective down and get it right. I like that challenge. I don’t earn much but I enjoy it. That’s what I do."

The finished work: Central Library by John Mawbey

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