Brosnan brushes up on his art skills for wife’s birthday

FORMER James Bond star Pierce Brosnan, 64, proves once again he is the man with golden paintbrush after presenting his wife of 16 years, Keely Shaye Smith, with a painting to mark her 54th birthday. The picture is of a vase of lilies portraying an expectant woman. Brosnan is a self-taught artist who cites his influences as Picasso and Matisse.

Leaving school at 16, he pursued a career as an illustrator before switching to acting. He returned to painting when first wife Cassandra was battling cancer in the late Eighties.

Brosnan and Keely ( inset) met on a beach in Mexico and have two sons, Burberry model Dylan, 20, and Paris, 16.