DURING the past decade Weimin He's distinctive artwork has been charting the changing landscape of Oxford's city centre.

Each time there has been a major new building project the artist has been there to sketch and paint workmen on the scaffolding, at the Ashmolean, the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and at the Weston Library.

Usually Dr He is content to capture a moment in time and once the work is complete he moves on to sketch out a different scenario as workers move towards their goal of completing a building project.

But with his latest work, charting the construction of the Bodleian's £80m Weston Library, the methodology was a little different.

Some of the watercolours of workmen at the library Dr He painted were incomplete and last year he returned to them after a two-year break.

With a fresh eye he went back to the series of paintings that are now on display in Blackwell Hall at the Weston Library, which opened to the the public in March 2015.

And when he looked again at some of the images he had created, he decided to make some changes.

"After two years some of my ideas had changed and I thought I could make the work better, so I added more layers," Dr He explained.

"I started by using pens on the site but for the finishing touches I used brushes."

But revisiting his work at a later date did not always go smoothly.

With Scaffolder on the Roof of the Weston Library, Dr He decided to alter the colour composition by adding a striking shade of blue.

He added: "I remember just before I went to bed I put lots of blue colour onto the paper and I thought 'this is hopeless' and was going to throw it away.

"But when I woke up the next morning I realised something unexpected had come out of it, a kind of happy accident.

"The blue captures the atmosphere so well and makes the work look lovely.

"A painting is very different from a photograph - I have witnessed what is happening in front of me and the final result is the artwork.

"It's another layer of interpretation - not simply a record of what is happening."

There are 15 pieces of original work on display at the library's exhibition, which runs until February 11, and about 30 other pieces on a touch-screen.

Some postcards have also been produced to accompany the display.

Dr He, 53, who lives in Botley, was born in 1964 in China's north-eastern province of Heilongjiang.

He studied printmaking at the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in Shenyang between 1988 and 1991 before establishing himself as a professional printmaker based in the city of Harbin.

A scholarship from the Muban Foundation, now the Muban Educational Trust, allowed Dr He to study for a doctoral degree at the University of Ulster, which was awarded in the summer of 2005.

Then he became Christensen Fellow at the Ashmolean Museum before becoming artist-in-residence at the museum in 2008 and 2009 and afterwards at the university's estates directorate, where he recorded the changes at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

Dr He's sister, He Yan, a renowned fashion designer, is a major supporter of his work.

Two years ago the artist moved to his current home in Botley, where he has a studio.

While he is settled in Oxford, his thoughts are never far from China, where he has spent a lot of time in the past two years supporting his family.

His 79-year-old mother died last year but his 85-year-old father remains in good health.

Dr He said: "Without my mother's support I would not be in Oxford - she always supported me and I feel that her love is still there.

"On a recent trip to China I was doing some typing and I looked down under my desk and noticed that my mother had bought me some slippers and put them there for me - it was so touching."

As well as monitoring the progress of various university building projects Dr He has been teaching calligraphy classes at Oxford Brookes University and running life drawing classes at Oxford University's Ruskin School of Art.

The coming year is certain to be a busy one for the artist and he is hoping that a book will be produced of his work at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter and at the Blavatnik School of Government in Walton Street.

"It's an ambitious project and should keep me busy for the whole year," Dr He added.

The artist concluded that he was 'happy' in Oxford but his reputation as an artist means he could be head-hunted at any time to work on art projects in China.

"I was offered a place as the deputy director of a gallery in China," he revealed, "but I turned it down.

"I go back to China quite often for different projects but I'm happy here in Oxford."

Reconstruction: Weimin He's watercolours of the Weston Library runs at Blackwell Hall until Sunday, February 12.