COME lunchtime and Dennis Syrett would hang up his butcher's knife, dash home and pick up a paintbrush for an hour.

An hour, he says, that enriched his life in ways that cannot be put into words.

That was in the 70s and it heralded Dennis Syrett's affair with painting a passion that has since unlocked countless doors of discovery.

This year Dennis was bestowed the fine honour of being elected President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI), which counted HRH Prince Charles among guests who helped celebrate its centenary in 1982.

But as Dennis explains, he travelled a long and winding road before getting to where he is today. Although he was always good with a pencil, it was on the football pitches, near where he was born in Beaconsfield, that Dennis first shined.

He kept goals for Charlton Athletic before going on to play with the English team and eventually Wycombe Wanderers where he clocked up 10 seasons.

Next came a stint with a City Stockbrokers before Dennis took over the family's butcher business in Naphill.

He says: "I didn't know what to do with myself and most of all I missed the excitement of soccer, so I thought the only other thing was art.".

So, with his paintbrush in hand, Dennis made his way to a Women's Institute session at his local Naphill Village Hall, where he offered to give painting classes.

"Remember, I was a full-time butcher in my parents business at this stage but I really took to it. I used to run home at lunchtimes and paint then."

Dennis's first success came when he was accepted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1970, recognition that propelled Dennis to make the biggest decision of his life.

"It made me realise things. I was in a bit of a fix. I knew I was going to be a butcher all my life or a painter."

With the unflinching support of his wife Patricia, Dennis made a very risky decision he put the family business on the market and opened an art shop in Easton Street, High Wycombe.

With the right contacts and materials at his fingertips, there was no stopping him.

"That really brought me into the art world. It was a huge decision, but I had enough courage to go for it. When you are painting you find yourself in the most interesting situations. It's a great communicator and opens up so many doors, regardless of language barriers."

So years after the familiar thunderous cheers at his Blues games had died down, Dennis discovered his second passion, and one that still drives him to new heights with each passing day.

"I love the buzz, the charge. When you are playing sport it's teamwork, but you are ambitious and always trying to achieve greater things. With painting, the charge is very personal and against yourself in a way. In sport you need to keep going and striving you really learn discipline and you really need that with painting. I've worked harder at painting than I ever have at anything."

It's hard to believe that Dennis had no formal training but credits fellow artists and his students as mentors. He taught at Penn's art group for ten years and then spent 18 years teaching at West Wycombe's art group.

For Dennis, his inspiration is to be found in the sights and sounds of the world, and more importantly its people.

A painting expedition to New York, which spawned brilliant works including a painting of Sam Rivers at Greenwich Village's Sweet Basil jazz club, was one of the more memorable jaunts.

"My main interest is people. I particularly like people in situations.

"I really got into New York. I didn't know what to expect, but it turned into a ding-dong. I was right up underneath Sam Rivers. It was interesting in the jazz club, the movement and the life there."

For Dennis, whose love has always been in fine art, it packs a punch to see fashionable abstract and conceptual art become ever more popular.

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, which was set up in 1889, aims to ensure that Britain's strong oil painting tradition continues to be nurtured.

"It bothers me that artists are going into conceptual art. We, as a society, are very keen to promote the skill of oil painting and the great tradition of oils in fine art above all else."

Dennis's sons now run the fine art shop in Easton Street while he gets on with painting and spending time with wife Patricia at their home in Naphill.

"The most wonderful thing in life is being able to do what you love doing, and I consider myself very fortunate to do the two things I've loved. It's a great honour to be president of the ROI.

"Looking back, I'd never have thought I'd get to this stage what a pleasant surprise," he says.

Dennis will show his work in a major oils exhibition along with ten member of the ROI at Century Gallery, Datchet, Berkshire, from March 21to April 8. For more information telephone: 01753 581284