An exhibition portraying life behind bars at Swansea Prison opened at a south west Wales gallery on Saturday.

Local artist Valerie Ganz has spent six months visiting the jail to capture the routines of the inmates on canvas.

Inmates were happy to cooperate

The work will be shown at the Attic gallery in Swansea for three weeks.

During the prison visits Ms Ganz, 66, was given special access to all parts of the facility and worked closely with inmates and staff.

She said the inspiration for the theme - entitled Prison Life - came from her childhood when the train she took to school stopped outside the prison every day.

"There was something about those big, blank walls," she said.

"I always used to stare at them and wondered what life was like inside."

She said her presence at the prison had surprised some of the inmates.

"They were a bit astonished at first but were then very keen and happy to be included in an exhibition," she said.

The game of rugby was a recent subject

"I have found this work interesting, disturbing and, in some ways, very encouraging to see how the human spirit copes with its lot.

"It leads me to ask many questions about the world in which we live".

Attic gallery's director David Roe said Ms Ganz gets tremendous enthusiasm for her work through her subjects.

"This is a stunning new aspect to her work which will be seen in a new light," he said.

Ms Ganz, who was born in Mumbles, attended Swansea College of Art where she studied painting, sculpture and stained glass.

During her career, she has been drawn to the landscape of the south Wales industrial areas.

Her work took her to collieries where she spent time with miners at the coal face.

Wide canvas

The artist also made studies of the miners and their families in snooker halls and in chapels.

She has been the official artist for the hugely-popular Brecon Jazz Festival and has also worked behind the scenes with the Moscow State circus on a visit to Wales.

Her attention has recently turned to rugby as a subject and she has included some of these drawings and paintings in her exhibition.

But Ms Ganz is remaining tight-lipped about her next project.

"I'm always a bit wary when I'm trying something new," she said.