THE LORD OF THE RINGS - MORTENSEN STUNNED BY ICELANDIC ARTIST

THE LORD OF THE RINGS star VIGGO MORTENSEN is helping to promote the work of Icelandic artist GEORGE GUDNI after the actor was captivated by his creations during a recent holiday.

Mortensen, a poet and artist who runs his own publishing house, gave up days of his holiday in Iceland to look at Gudni's art after spotting it in a gallery - and now he is releasing a coffee table book so that others can appreciate the artist.

Mortensen says, "I was in Iceland and just by luck I saw a show of his paintings.

"I was with my son (and) the closer we walked to this one painting, it felt like we were just diving in. There were so many layers of paint and it was just so beautiful.

"I went to his studio and said, 'Where are your sketches?' He said, 'Over there, in those books. It was everything he had ever drawn since he was a kid. I looked at every drawing in every book. It took me days."