Vincent Van Gogh's time in Isleworth has inspired a new exhibition about the artist.

The Sunflowers painter lived for three years in England as a young man, the last six months of which he spent teaching in Isleworth.

His spell in west London was the spur for a free exhibition coming to Redlees Studios, in Worton Road, Isleworth - a stone's throw from his former lodgings - on Sunday August 2.

Sarika Sharma says spotting a blue plaque dedicated to the artist opposite the studio got her thinking about his life and how he is remembered.

"In his lifetime he was fairly obscure in terms of the art 'world'. In plain terms, at one point he was just a Dutch immigrant settled in West London, who hadn't discovered his passion for painting. There are few celebrations of immigrants of any kind today in the UK," she said.

"Yet after his death, he became an celebrated and iconic artist. Would he agree with everything that was written about him? How did his story evolve?"

Another of Sarika Sharma's portraits inspired by the work of Van Gogh

She began researching Van Gogh's letters from his time in London and discovered he was very diferent from his popular public image. She described him as an "almost fanatically religious Methodist, who deliver his first sermon in Isleworth in 1876".

The resulting exhibition 'Van Gogh and Isleworth' is about more than the great man; it uses what we know about his life to explore modern ideas about identity and place.

As well as producing three paintings in response to Van Gogh's self portraits, and turning quotes from his letters into textual artworks, she has concocted a series of artistic "experiments".

Visitors will be asked to pinpoint their favourite and most significant places on a series of maps charting the Dutch artist's movements - a way, she says, of exploring the complex links between place and identity.

They will also be invited to relate to Van Gogh's imaginative use of bold colours, by selecting their own hues to match their feelings and ideas.

Van Gogh and Isleworth will be at Redlees Studios, in Worton Road, Isleworth, on Sunday August 2, from 9am-6pm. Entry will be free.