AN AWARD-WINNING Wiltshire artist is hard at work on the first of £375,000 worth of original art works for Swindon's Great Western Hospital.

Glass artist Sasha Ward has been awarded the new hospital's first commission, and is currently drawing up possible designs for a five square metre enamelled glass wall for the hospital's chaplaincy.

The wall will be one of the first things visitors to the hospital will see as they come into the hospital's main entrance after it opens next November.

And both Sasha and the hospital say they are thrilled such an important commission has gone to a local artist.

Hospital spokesman Chris Birdsall said: "This is the first commission we have done, and it's such a good thing to have somebody of Sasha's calibre on our doorstep.

Sasha, 42, from Marlborough, has won a string of architectural awards, including one for her work on a library extension at King Alfred's College in Winchester.

She said she was pleased Wiltshire people would finally be able to see her work, as much of it is in northern towns like Leeds and Rotherham, as well as in the south east, in Basingstoke, Newbury, and Surrey.

"I'm really pleased that more people will be able to enjoy what I do," said Mrs Ward, adding that the finished work would probably be inspired by nature, and the journey suggested by the name Great Western Hospital.

"There's definitely no pictures of doctors and nurses people usually don't want hospital imagery in hospitals," she said.

Instead, she wanted the wall to attract people into the chaplaincy, and to make them feel calm once they were inside.

"We want to make people come up and use the room and the light coming through the glass will hopefully make them want to come in," she said.

"But it's got to provide a peaceful atmosphere and not be too distracting."

Mr Birdsall said the glass wall was part of a carefully drawn up arts policy for the £140 million hospital, which would try and make sure every artwork contributed to the well being of patients.

"This is an absolute prime example of how the art will do a job," he said.

"The wall will create an atmosphere in a very, very important part of the hospital."

Mr Birsdall stressed that that money to pay for the hospital's artworks, which will also be in areas such as the children's ward and mother and baby unit, has come from grant-giving bodies and the hospital's private Evolution Appeal.

He insisted it was not being spent at the expense of patients or spending on health, and hoped the art on show would actually help patients feel better and calm worried friends and relatives.

"There's a powerful school of thought that art can be therapeutic, lead to people feeling more relaxed, and promote a whole range of positive feelings," he said.