ARTIST Colin Hoppe has not always been a successful sculptor – he only discovered his talents after losing his sight.

"I've seen more now that I'm blind then I could when I could see," he told the Gazette when asked what impact his artistic gift has had on his life.

Colin, 52, suffers from retinitis pigmentosa– an hereditary disease that sees the eyesight degenerate throughout the sufferers lifetime.

Two of his brothers are registered blind and another is short-sighted. His sister carries the gene and could pass it on to her children.

Colin, of Lavender Rise, West Drayton, used to be a chef, before his eyesight declined forcing him to stop work in 1994.

He embarked on an adult education course in pottery as part of his rehabilitation, later taking classes at Harlington Community School in Hayes.

He made his first piece of pottery during the course and went on to unleash a passion for sculpting.

One of his teachers recommended a group called Blind Art and it was through them that Colin took part in his first exhibition and sold his first piece of work.

After that he was hooked.

He said: "It wasn't really something I did before I had my sight problems – I was a chef for twenty years and married with a daughter so I was always busy with other things.

"But I found that art was something that really helped me to come to terms with losing my sight – and venting my frustrations about other things in my life.

"All of my work is very hands on – it's about touching it, running your hands round it and feeling the movement of it."

Colin has been commissioned to create a piece to mark the centenary of Whitehall Infant and Junior Schools in Uxbridge.

His work can be seen in many of the borough's buildings – including a sculpture of a giant pair of hands in Hillingdon Civic Centre – as well as various exhibitions.

He also sells and displays work in his garden and runs a group for blind artists – or anyone else interested flexing their creative muscles – called Vision On.

But his motivation is not all about the glory.

As well as hoping he can provide motivation for anyone else battling to overcome a disability or illness, he wants to inspire budding artists to feel confident about their calling.

He said: "It doesn't matter if no one else likes it. If you enjoy doing and it the actual satisfaction of creating it,that's all that matters.

"It's irrelevant whether anybody buys it.

"I make my work for me."

Colin's latest exhibition, at Cow Byre art gallery, Winston Church Hall, Pinn Way, Ruislip runs from Sunday (31) to August 6.