THE title of an exhibition by a Stockton amateur artist, Unfinished Business, signifies an ambition he is only now able to follow at the age of 60.

When he was 18, Mr Alan Wilkinson planned to take a degree in fine art at King's college, Newcastle, but circumstances dictated otherwise and instead he studied French at Durham university and became a teacher for a while.

In 1965, he joined ICI and spent the next 32 years with the company on Teesside, in work, study, personal, quality and manufacturing technology. In 1971, he published a book on management information systems which became recommended ready for Open University students.

Now retired, he has embarked on the fine art degree which he had originally planned to do 40 years ago - this time at Cleveland college of art and design.

Mr Wilkinson, who has lived in Stockton all his life, apart from his four years at Durham, continued to paint and draw in his spare time and attended a number of part-time courses in art and design.

He is also keenly interested in music, and spent some years as a member of the Fettlers folk group, though his particular passion is jazz. In 1982, he was overall winner of the Mensa Superbrain competition.

His exhibition of paintings and drawings opened this week at Stockton central library and runs until March 24.