THE latest exhibition at Pure Art in Milford Haven brings together two artists with very different passions.

Bob Grimson is a Pembrokeshire-based marine artist and Zoe James Williams is a Swansea-based painter of the human form.

Mr Grimson learnt to paint during 16 years living on board a self-built yacht. Entirely self-taught, he was inspired by the work of the famous marine artist John Chancellor.

He said: “I got a book on him from the library and it just blew me away. As far as I’m concerned nobody gets close to him as a marine artist and I realised I hadn’t even begun to be a good artist myself. I thought if I could become just a fraction as good as John Chancellor then maybe I’d be on the way. Several years and many thousands of hours later it started to come good and people wanted to buy my paintings.”

Ms James-Williams trained at Swansea Art College and the Charles H Cecil drawing studios in Florence before spending years working closely with ballet dancers.

She was the first Artist in Residence at Swansea Grand Theatre from 2009-2012 and for six years prior to that was linked with Swansea Ballet Russe, the only resident Russian Ballet company in the UK. Since then she has worked with principals of The Royal Ballet, Mariinsky and Bolshoi amongst many others.

Her latest work includes plenty of paintings of ballet dancers but she also paints lone female figures.

She said: “My first love as an artist has always been the figure. Usually my figures are anonymous which allows the viewer to reflect their own thoughts and feelings into the paintings. I like to portray the female figure in its own intimate world as if you are looking through a keyhole into a private moment.”

The figures’ enigmatic quality is accentuated by her use of a limited palette, usually in watercolour or pastel, so as to concentrate on the drama of light and shade to create a dramatic and striking image.

The exhibition runs at Pure Art, 6 Vanguard House, Milford Marina until August 17.