FROM tranquil landscapes to a lifelike turtle, tiny paintings are helping to fund palliative care training.

Sobell House Hospice has received more than 250 donations for its My Lovely Postcards project, which invited people to create 6" by 4" pieces of art to put up for sale.

The postcards are now being proudly exhibited at The Jam Factory in Oxford, as bids flood in via an online auction.

Libby Aley, a member of Sobell's fundraising team, said she had been 'absolutely blown away' by the standard of work submitted.

Proceeds from the auction will pay for specialist training for palliative care nurses, as part of a fund set up by loved ones of 32-year-old Beth Foreman.

Retail manager Miss Foreman, who lived in Abingdon, died at the Headington hospice in May 2016 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Her dad Neil Foreman, from Watlington, said: "[The bursary] is something Beth would have thoroughly approved of. She was a very caring person.

"It seemed to us that the palliative care nurses were so well-trained. The gift they were able to bring to the caring process was very special; they were exceptional.

"We felt staff were stretched and that if we could train nurses it would help Sobell House's resources."

Beth's Bursary Fund has so far raised more than £32,000.

The family's fundraising page describes Miss Foreman as 'beautiful, brilliant and brave', adding: "Nothing can bring Beth back to us. But we can do something positive in her memory."

In April her sister-in-law Gemma Chase walked 108km around the Isle of White in Miss Foreman's memory, and it is hoped Mr Lovely Postcards will mark similar success in the family's mission.

Didcot artist Charlie Davies donated two postcards to the exhibition, including an etching of Wittenham Clumps.

Mrs Davies, who is a printmaker, painter and silversmith, said: "It's a really excellent cause and it's nice to be able to exhibit at The Jam Factory with other artists.

"I think everybody in Oxfordshire knows somebody who has had support from Sobell House. I know how supportive they can be in really difficult times."

The Jam Factory in Hollybush Row launched the exhibition on Wednesday, and it will run for four weeks.

To view the postcards online or make a bid, visit fundraising.bid/mylovelypostcards/shop.