Notable local artist Ken Messer will be exhibiting his work in The Long Room from Wednesday 2nd July to Saturday 26th July.

Ken's watercolours of Oxford and the surrounding countryside are loed and well-known to many.

Born in Newport Mon, Monmouthshire, he was educated at the City of Oxford School. Despite wanting to pursue a career in painting when he left there he decided upon something more sensible. Initially he worked as an accountant in Oxford; he then joined the National Service as a radar mechanic in Pembrokeshire before finally becoming an airline steward for ten years with BOAC. Aged 33 a motor accident cut his flying career short and, after a year of recovery, he joined the Design Department of Pergamon Press, eventually becoming Studio Manager. 

It was in 1974, when he left publishing to freelance as a graphic designer, that painting watercolours started to take up more of his time. It wasn't long before the painting took over completely. It has been his sole career ever since.

He has won prizes in three consecutive biennial Saunders' "Artists in Watercolour" international competitions and in the Artist Magazine Watercolour Competition. Five publishers have published prints of his work and he has had work hung in the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours annual open exhibitions at the Mall Galleries.

Ken frequently gives talks and demonstrations of his work and has been known to organise painting holidays overseas.