A FORMER Bromsgrove art teacher is commemmorating the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme with a poignant exhibition in Birmingham.

Rob Perry's impressions of the First World War battlefields can currently be seen at Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery in Chamberlain Square.

Internationally-renowned Robert, who was head of art at North East Worcestershire College from 1973 to 1991, has devoted many years to working in the Western Front battlefields trying to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the place where time and nature are slowly erasing the scars of the 1914 to 1918 conflict which consumed the area and so many young soldiers.

His interest in his subject was kindled in his childhood after hearing how his grandmother's cousin, Billy Warren from Brierley Hill, was killed in battle.

"I remember my grandmother telling me about him and reading war poems at school so I was interested from a very early age," he said.

"The war had quite an impact on my family, as it did many others. Two other cousins - Robert and Charles Dean - were also killed. And in 1991 I got the opportunity to go and visit the battlefields - and I've been going over there ever since."

Very often alone with just his thoughts and his painting brush while on location, Rob says he can often sense the spirits of the tragic soldiers - especially when working in the trenches at night.

"It's melancholy, but you get so involved in your work that everything else fades off into the background," he said.

Such has been the impact of his work that Robert, a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, is now an honourary citizen of the town of Albert in France, the epicentre of the Battle of the Somme.

His current exhibition, which runs until August 27, features some 62 images painted over the last 15 years including eight from his last trip to the Somme in May.

A keen Amnesty International supporter, the Stourbridge-based artist hopes the show will send out a strong anti-war message.

He said: "We have got to try and learn the lessons of history."

Rob will also be holding 'meet the artist' sessions at the Birmingham gallery on Saturday, July 15, and Saturday, August 26, and is urging former students to pop along and visit him.