Archie's painting of a wee black fairy was a gift to his close friend, Jeanie Rae, of Milngavie, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000.

Prints of the painting are now on sale at a Glasgow Gallery to raise money for Maggie's. Former nurse, Jeanie, was undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer at the same time as when her mother was dying.

It was during this difficult period that Jeanie conjured up the image of a "wee black fairy", which has provided her with comfort over the years. Jeanie, 62, said: “When I was in the hospital I can remember thinking, I'm going to get on top of this. I'm going to imagine I've got a fairy looking after me. I told my husband I was going to be fine because I'd got this wee fairy and she was going to zap all my cancer cells."

After her treatment, Jeanie learnt more about visualisation and that it is a well-recognised therapy. Jeanie went from visualising the fairy to actually drawing a version of it, which she put on her fridge.

At this point Jeanie’s husband, Allan, decided to approach their good friend Archie Forrest to see if he could conjure up a more permanent fairy for Jeanie.

Archie, who studied and later taught at Glasgow School of Art, gave Jeanie a framed painting of a wee black fairy the next time he came visit. The painting has proven so helpful in Jeanie’s recovery that she has decided she wants it to help more and more people. As a result, Jeanie has had 12 prints produced and signed by Archie, which will be auctioned over the coming months. A further 1000 smaller prints have been produced and are for sale at Arteries Gallery, 127 Douglas Street, Glasgow. All proceeds from the sale of the paintings are going to Maggie's.

Archie, 58, who also had cancer and is fully recovered, also found the therapeutic power of art to be most helpful during his recovery. Archie said: "People would say, You shouldn't be working, you're recovering from an operation,' but it wasn't work for me. It was a joy.”

Speaking about the great fundraising potential that this brings for Maggie’s, the Glasgow Centre’s Community Fundraiser, Kirsty Hodge, said: “This is a fabulous opportunity for Maggie’s and we were thrilled when Jeanie approached us with the idea. It is such a beautiful painting and the story behind it is so moving, that I am sure people will be queuing up to buy them. At Maggie’s Glasgow we rely 100 per cent on fundraising to operate our centre, which provides free-of-charge emotional and practical support to people across the west coast of Scotland facing cancer. On behalf of everyone at Maggie’s I would like to thank Jeanie and Archie for this opportunity.”

Arteries Galleries is run by Jeanie Rae’s son, Neil.  For information on purchasing a wee black fairy print, contact Arteries Gallery on 0141 333 0999.