Walthamstow artist Ron Bowman was just 15 when he purchased his first camera. Intrigued by the glamour, he saved up his pennies from his job at a bookmakers and stumped up the £2.50.

Talking to me ahead of his exhibition, From Camera to Watercolour, at the Walthamstow Central Library, the 76-year-old explains: “We lived in a council house and we had a tiny larder. I told my mother I could make it into a dark room, and I made my own enlarger out of a paraffin can and old bits of piping and taught myself how to develop pictures.”

The retired joiner continues: “I wanted to do something nobody else was doing, that was the main thing.”

For his forthcoming show, which forms part of the E17 Trail, Ron, who gained a distinction of Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society in 1977, has worked from his impressive library of photographs to create striking watercolours.

“You never just copy a photograph,” the former chairman of the Walthamstow & District Photographic Society tells me. “You use it as an example and do your own thing, you try to put yourself into it in some way, and I like to add humour. The more you do, the bolder you get and then you come up with new ideas and bend the rules.”

This is not the first time Ron has participated in the E17 Trail, but it is his debut as a painter, and it’s something he is looking forward to with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

“It’s nice to know somebody is coming around and enjoying my work,” Ron muses. “Some people are desperate to sell their stuff, but I’m not worried. It’s like losing one of your children when you sell one.”

From Camera to Watercolour runs in the foyer of the Walthamstow Central Library from Saturday, September 5, to Thursday, September 13. For more details visit: www.e17arttrail.co.uk