AN ARTIST living in Lyme Regis had his career boosted by a bizarre incident that resulted in 70 commissions.

Clive Hemsley started painting dog portraits ‘almost by accident’ following an incident which saw his six-year-old Labrador Bear bite a woman's finger when she was feeding him a treat.

Mr Hemsley said: “I was walking my dog when it bit a lady’s hand, and it caused her finger to bleed. As compensation I offered to paint a portrait of her dog, and she was delighted.”

The story appeared in the local paper in Henley on Thames, where Mr Hemsley lived at the time, and resulted in 70 commissions.

Since then, he has painted more than 2,000 dog portraits and hopes to raise funds for a life-saving charity through donating commissions from his works.

The retired creative art director has recently moved to Lyme Regis and plans to use his love of dogs to raise money for the RNLI.

In order to raise donations for the charity, Mr Hemsley plans to set up his easel by Lyme Regis lifeboat station on Saturday, August 26 to attract commissions which he plans to give a percentage of any fees to the lifeboat charity. 

He added: "If it's successful this time, I will do it more regularly."

The artist explained that he has previously ‘raised over £100,000 for Sue Ryder and various other charities in Henley on Thames.’

He also plans to auction off a commission on behalf of the Fishermen's Mission, which is the only national charity that works solely to support fishermen and their families - offering practical, financial and emotional support as well as a 24/7 emergency service to assist with accidents or illness at sea.

With more than 50 years of experience, the artist doesn't only specialise in dog portraits but has taken on plenty of commissions painting people too.

He likes to experiment with different techniques and materials including oils, acrylics, inks, pastels, charcoal and even woman's make-up and boot polish.