While most of us basked in the summer sun, David Wilford was thinking of snow, ice skaters and carol singers.

For the past four years, David, of Hollings Street, Cottingley, has painted romantic Victorian Christmas scenes in oil which are bought by card companies.

His wonderful creations, which take him around 40 hours to complete, now appear in the shops each December on the front of Christmas cards.

David, 57, took up the offer of painting the scenes after a director from local firm Collinsons Cards saw some of his work at an exhibition at Shipley Library.

"I'd done a pencil sketch and some landscapes and figures for the Baildon Art Club show,'' said David.

"The director asked me to go over and he showed me some examples of the work they used and asked if I thought I could tackle it. The first one I did was a Christmas scene of an inn, sunset, children pulling sledges.''

Hallmark Cards saw some of David's work and got in touch. Demand for his work literally snowballed and he now completes four to five a year, each of which is bought for several hundred pounds.

Ironically, by day David is a self-employed painter and decorator. But he admits he would love to paint the more challenging scenes full-time.

"I enjoy doing them. I've never been to art school, and I'm self-taught - whatever that means. I go to galleries, look at other paintings, and experiment.

"If I won the lottery it would be my dream to do my own thing and have people buy my paintings rather than work to a commission.

"When I'm at work I have ideas for pictures but I don't have time to do them or I'm too tired to try, so they just fly away.''

David, who always paints the scenes in oil, has been a member of Baildon Art Club for three years. "With oil you can leave it alone for a while then come back to it and go over scenes. It also means that if I am asked to make any alterations, I can just paint over a particular section.''

So what do his wife and two grown-up children think of his talent? "They've grown up with it.

"It's really no different to keeping pigeons - it's just a hobby.''

Lorraine Behrens

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.