Tauranga stroke survivor Mike Maynard selling his paintings to support the Stroke Foundation

Stroke survivor Mike Maynard, 86, is selling his paintings to raise funds for the Stroke Foundation. Photo / George Novak

Mike Maynard is living proof there is life after having a stroke.

The 86-year-old who suffered a stroke on April 8 last year is holding an exhibition of 37 of his acrylic paintings in the People's Gallery at the Historic Village this week.

A few weeks after suffered a severe brain bleed, Maynard began painting at his Welcome Bay home, producing colourful illustrations and paintings.

The exhibition of his semi-surrealist artworks titled Coloured Images continues from May 23-25 from 10am-3pm. All proceeds will go to the Stroke Foundation.

Prior to his stroke, Maynard was an art tutor at the Turning Point Trust, which operates from the Historic Village, for more than 20 years.

Turning Point Trust works with people with mental health or addiction issues, teaching arts, crafts, gardening and the like.

Faced with the challenges of having to relearn basic life skills, Maynard said he wanted to help the Stroke Foundation which has been supporting him through his challenging journey.

"I also wanted to show people there is life after having a stroke. Some tasks need two hands but while one of my hands is useless, you only need one hand to paint," he said.

Stroke Foundation Tauranga's community advisor Jessica Copperwayte said: "It's absolutely heartwarming that Mike is donating the proceeds to the Stroke Foundation.

"We're over the moon that he has chosen to do so and is helping to get the message across that there is definitely life after a stroke. The amount and quality of artworks Mike has produced in such a short time have blown us away."

The funds will allow the Stroke Foundation to continue its field work in the community.