A DORSET artist and musician has helped to raise more than £200,000 for charity by painting two guitars for Gibson's GuitarTown global charity auction.

After painting a 10ft high Gibson Les Paul for singer James Blunt, Paul Hart, of Sturminster Newton, was commissioned to paint a second instrument - a bass guitar for Cream bass player Jack Bruce.

After discussions with Bruce himself and Cream songwriter Pete Brown, Paul themed his work on their psychedelic rock classic White Room.

"In 1967 London was awash with creativity - music, fashion and psychedelic poster art," he said.

"Poets, musicians and artists joined forces to create cultural icons for what became known as the Summer of Love.

"This was the year that Eric Clapton's Gibson SG was painted by Dutch artists The Fool, who also painted the side of Apple's building and John Lennon's Rolls Royce!

"It was against this background that Jack and Pete wrote White Room, which is one of the most powerful of all songs in terms of its musical and lyrical content."

Paul, himself a guitarist and driving force of Dorset's Barrelhouse Blues Club, described his work as "a tribute to the band, the song and the artwork of the time".

"I was thrilled when Gibson, Jack Bruce and Pete Brown gave this project their blessing," said Paul, who has interpreted phrases from the lyrics, such as "platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows".

"My research was very much empirically based, as I was at Bournemouth Art School when this cultural explosion took place.

"Collaboration with the writers was essential and knowledge of the 5/4 time signature of the intro to the song seemed to be vitally important to the power and atmosphere of the song.

"I was even privy to the exact location of the station near the white room itself."

Bruce and Brown have since given their personal seal of approval for the finished work, as has a bidder from America, who paid almost £5,000 for the White Room SG Bass.

Bids for the 62 painted guitars in the auction at London's O2 Arena ranged from a few hundred pounds to £60,000 for Paul McCartney's signed 10ft Les Paul replica.

Paul Hart's James Blunt guitar raised £1,000.

The money goes to three young people's charities - Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, the Prince's Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust.