Artist in search for someone to leave paintings to (From The Argus)

Artist in search for someone to leave paintings to

7:00pm Monday 18th August 2008 in

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A writer and painter who has a life-threatening brain tumour is looking for someone to leave his life’s work to in his will.

Brian Fogarty, 66, is terrified his 40 paintings will end up in a skip and his books will go out of print.

Mr Fogarty, who wrote The Greenhouse, Windowshopping and Red Over Blue, manages his own publishing and distribution and receives regular orders from Waterstone’s and from overseas.

He said: “I am not famous enough for people to be fighting over my work but I am just beginning to get some success. If I don’t make it through this then the copyright to my books will be lost.

“If I left the rights to someone then they could do nothing with them or they could probably make some money out of it if they wanted.

“My brother and sister came down after I was diagnosed but they are not people who read anyway. My girlfriend, Jean, is 70 and disabled so it would just be a burden for her.”

As well as his literary collection, Mr Fogarty has amassed more than 40 canvasses at his studio in Bedford Square, Brighton, many of which are framed using museum glass.

He said: “I have been staying with Jean for a while because I literally painted myself into a corner. When I became poorly I did not even have somewhere to sit down in my little studio.

“I would love for the paintings to go to one person who is able to display them. Jean has said she would get the money together to keep them in a storage room but if people were interested they would not be able to see them properly.

“I’m not worried about dying because everyone dies one day. It’s just that 40 years of work will be thrown away, so I’ve got to get some people’s names on the will but I don’t want to do it without asking people because it could be a burden to them.”

He can be contacted via www.brianfogarty.com.