Norman began his working life in 1955 as an engineering apprentice with BOAC. In 1961 he was accepted for Flight Crew training and qualified as a Flight Engineer later that year. Over 38 years he had the experience of flying many types of aircraft, starting on the Douglas DC7C, which was the last piston powered airliner to be operated by BOAC. He retired as a Senior Flight Engineer in 1993.

Norman has always been interested in watercolour painting and upon retiring moved to Upton-upon-Severn where he had lessons first with Geoff Rowswell of Malvern Wells and later with Frida Moores at the Malvern Hills College. Having learnt many basic techniques, he felt encouraged to experiment on his own.

His work has been shown in several local exhibitions, and a selection of his paintings are on display permanently at the Malvern Hills Gallery.

The artist is a great admirer of the works of Edward Seago and Edward Wesson, both of whom are, unfortunately, no longer with us. If the viewer can see the influence of either of these two wonderful artists in Norman's work then he takes this as a great compliment.

In studying the works of Seago and Wesson and indeed many other talented artists, Norman has come to appreciate the importance of tone in a painting, and in trying to bring tonal quality to his work he has limited his main palette to around seven colours, hence the name of this exhibition.

Although he may have used other colours in some of his earlier paintings, the colours Norman uses are almost exclusively now are:

•  Ultramarine Blue
•  Winsor Blue
•  Raw Sienna
•  Burnt Sienna
•  Burnt Umber
•  Light Red
•  Alizarine Crimson