MATHS professor Malcolm Ludvigsen did not pick up a paintbrush until four years ago, concentrating instead on relativity, cosmology and black holes rather than blank canvases.

Now he regularly exhibits oil paintings, and his latest works can be seen in his Sky And Sea show at the Blake Head Bookshop, Micklegate, York, where his prices start at £50.

"I was surprised that I was able to paint and even more surprised when people started paying good money for my pictures," says Professor Ludvigsen, of Belle Vue Street, York.

"I now have them in galleries all over the country, including London and Glasgow, and a few weeks ago I had an e-mail from an art dealer in Colorado who had seen my work on the web and was very interested. So I sent her some paintings and they were a big success in galleries in Colorado and California."

So much so that Prof Ludvigsen now sells more paintings in the United States than in Yorkshire. "Even more extraordinary, my American dealer tells me that certain Japanese galleries are becoming interested in my work, especially my beach scenes, though they don't know quite what to make of Bridlington."

The Blake Head exhibition runs until January 4, open daily 10am to 5pm, admission free.

Updated: 10:15 Friday, December 10, 2004