AN illustrator whose talent once left violinist Nigel Kennedy cursing in admiration is preparing his first display in Malvern.

Professional illustrator Philip Downs, aged 31, has honed his artistic skills to such a degree that he has worked for the likes of Royal Worcester Porcelain, Hereford Cathedral and Warwick Castle.

But despite being born and brought up in Malvern, he has never had a solo exhibition in the town.

Proud mum, Jan, said: "As a 17-year-old he had his work on display as part of a Terrace Artists exhibition at the Winter Gardens. They gave him his first chance to do anything in Malvern but he's never had his own exhibition."

While living in Malvern, Philip contributed murals and concert backdrops to the Downs School, in Colwall, which led to him giving a caricature to Kennedy.

"Because of Philip doing work at the school, we were invited to a concert with Nigel," said Jan.

"The headmaster asked Philip to prepare a cartoon for Nigel to present after the concert. It involved him and Elgar and his favourite football team Aston Villa.

"He was pleased with it. I can't repeat how pleased he was because I think he was going through his profanity stage."

Since then, Philip, a former Dyson Perrins pupil, has graduated from De Montfort University with a degree in Illustration and has worked for numerous high-profile customers.

He currently lives in and operates from Bristol where he is working on illustrations for children's books.

His exhibition, which runs for a month and begins on Monday, August 11, around the foyer and cinema entrance at the Malvern Theatres, features a series of unusual characters and scenes ranging from African women to depictions from Alice in Wonderland.

Mum Jan said: "They're very colourful pieces which have a lot of meaning that the viewer can interpret a story in each one. Even though they've all got a title, whoever sees them can say 'I think it's about so and so.'"