A University of Worcester graduate returning after nine years abroad is set to host her first exhibition in the city for the decade.

Jayne Gaze, one of the artists in residence at The Arches, intends to stage a free solo public exhibition, called 'Innerscapes'.

Gaze relocated to Spain in 2013, but her life drastically changed in 2019 due to the Vega Baja flood.

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Forced to evacuate her home, she lost a significant amount of work, including items from her degree, due to devastating studio damage.

The trauma from the incident prevented her from painting for three years.

However, she eventually channelled her distress into creating over 40 abstract and mixed media pieces since her return to the UK in 2022.

Gaze said: "It's trying to make a positive out of a negative.

"I allowed myself to just work intuitively and explore these personal feelings and make visual representations of them so they’re very much a reflection of my interior world.

"They are memories, experiences, sounds and smells, feelings and emotions."

Prior to diving into her creative side, Gaze had a decade-long career in business.

She decided to follow her passion and earned an art and design degree from the university in 2003.

She said: "Doing my degree was one of the best times in my professional life because it was something I’d wanted to do as a teenager coming out of school.

"I was never happy, I’ve always had this creative calling, it felt like something was missing from my life.

"I felt very supported at Worcester, my tutors were fantastic.

"They gave me confidence and inspired me.

"I found my authenticity there as an artist and I’ve continued to build on that."

With her art degree, Gaze secured an Arts Council Award and became the artist in residence at Worcester Cathedral in 2003/4.

She then spent several years working for the NHS using art as a form of therapy for mental health sufferers and dementia patients.

She also founded the Art in Minds Foundation, a Worcester-based initiative supporting artists with mental health issues.

The exhibition will be open from Saturday 7 to Monday, September 16, from 10am to 5pm each day at The Artery Studios under Worcester’s railway arches.