A POPULAR Dudley musician who has battled his way back to health after being stabbed in the stomach nearly three years ago has taken up painting and is getting set to stage his first exhibition.

Jack Turley, from Kate's Hill, who played the drums in punk rock band The Fight, was critically wounded by Dudley cannabis dealer Sean Davies in an incident in Cromwell Street in the town in November 2011.

The former Castle High School pupil was left fighting for life after the savage attack, in which he was stabbed with a seven-inch kitchen knife, but as a result of prompt emergency surgery he pulled through.

However - Jack, a former civil engineer, has been unable to work since the incident which has left him with ongoing problems.

With time on his hands, the 28-year-old musician who toured extensively in the US, Japan, Canada and Europe during The Fight's heydays in the mid noughties decided to take up painting to keep himself occupied and he's hoping to stage exhibitions in his hometown and in London soon.

He told the News: "I started at the start of the year - just painting bits and bobs and over the last few months I've really got into it.

"I never did art in school but I've always been artistic and someone bought me a paintbrush for Christmas so I tried painting. I didn't really enjoy it at first but now I'm starting to feel like I have to paint every day.

"I'm hoping to set up my first exhibition at The Lamp Tavern in Dudley soon so I'm trying to do as much as I can at the moment."

Jack, who also continues to write music, added: "I've suffered with an intermittent tremor since the stabbing and I find that its made me develop a certain style."

He said he has taken particular inspiration from the work of celebrated Dudley artist Percy Shakespeare, who was born in Kate's Hill in 1906 and who was killed by a German bomb in East Sussex during WWII, and he added: "If I need inspiring I just go along to Dudley Museum and look at some of his stuff."

Among Jack's growing collection of colourful pictures are portraits of famous faces from film and the music industry plus depictions of his beloved Staffordshire Bull Terriers and even a self-portrait.

Check out website http://mastergamelad.wix.com/mastergameladarts or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Mastergameladarts to see a selection of his work.