Ex Jethro Tull bassist's art on display at Lytham's Fylde Gallery

He put down the bass guitar he had been playing with the band Jethro Tull, packed his paint brush and easel and headed for the Gloucestershire countryside.

There, for more than 30 years, he painted full time – and has continued to do so since returning to his native Fylde coast more than a decade ago.

But no-one beyond his family, friends and closest associates were aware of his art, as he never exhibited his works.

Recently, more than 40 years after Jeffrey chose his first love of art over continuing in Jethro Tull, he finally put some of his art on public display at Lytham’s Fylde Gallery – and drew compliments galore from delighted visitors.

Another exhibition may follow but Jeffrey, now 71 and living in St Annes, is as eager as ever to not sell any of his works, determined to keep them all together until, as he puts it, he has made a name for himself in the art world.

Jeffrey was born and raised in Blackpool and met his future Jethro Tull band-mates, including charismatic lead singer Ian Anderson, while studying at the former Blackpool Grammar School.

“Ian and fellow student John Evans wanted to form a group and their invitation for me to be the group’s bass player was too good to resist - although I had had no musical training,” said Jeffrey.

“But the early excitement soon faded and I joined an art foundation course at Blackpool Tech while the band kept playing and moved to London.

“I took up a place at Central St Martins College in London when one of the students dropped out but felt like a fish out of water for almost all of the three-year course.

“The other students already felt themselves to be artists, but I had no sense of direction, although during the last six months I felt I was getting somewhere.”

After failing an interview to get on a Royal Academy course and with Ian and John’s band – now called Jethro Tull - started taking off, they asked him to house-sit and do some decorating while they toured America.

On their return, they invited him into the band – and he found himself working on the hit album Aqualung and touring Scandinavia.

He also appeared on the fondly-remembered Thick As A Brick album and the LP named after they best-remembered hit Living In The Past, although Jeffrey hadn’t played on the song itself.

“It was really exciting touring the world and I enjoyed it for five years, but I couldn’t see myself making a career of the music and inside I knew I wanted to paint.”

He left the band suddenly and set up home in Gloucestershire with his wife Mahnaz. Together, they travelled widely and many of the locations they visited inspired his art as he graduated from still life to distinctive depictions of scenes at famous locations which proved so hugely popular at the Lytham exhibition.

Mahnaz’s untimely death and their son’s decision to move to London in 2003 caused Jeffrey to think about moving and he realised he had missed living by the seaside.

“I travelled all over to try and find a home that felt right, but decided to return to my roots in Fylde – where my mum was still living – and found the ideal home in St Annes,” he said.

There, in his drawing room/studio, he paints his eye-catching and distinctive interpretations of familiar scenes - from The Lowry to The Louvre - and very often paints himself into the work.

The works are in oils and, with Jeffrey ever the perfectionist, each can take months to complete - allowing for what he terms ‘a full narrative’.

“They were good days with Tull and I am still in touch with my ex-bandmates, including Ian, but honestly after all these years, I really don’t miss playing music at all,” he said.