Every inch of Geoff Francis's quirky Swanage home is filled with creativity.

The walls are barely visible behind the huge canvases of varying colours and themes proudly displayed in every room, while sculptures stand in the corners.

Story and poetry books are piled on the desks, albums full of stunning wildlife photographs are dotted around and upstairs in the attic workshop, a coffee table is waiting to be upcycled.

Each of the works has its own story to tell. "This one is called Imagine No John Lennon," explains Geoff, while another depicts the melting of the polar ice caps and a sculpture he points out has an anti-war message.

It's clear that Geoff's creations are united by a singular passion - to protect our planet.

A vegan for 45 years, and a staunch supporter of animal rights, Geoff has been hugely involved in charity work raising awareness of endangered species, animal welfare and the ways in which we are destroying our world.

His work has seen him run numerous campaigns, set up charities and even means he can call animal rights activist Linda McCartney a friend.

It is Geoff's literary achievements - he's written poetry books, dystopian tales, a young adults novel, plus an authorised biography - which see him as one of the speakers at this year's Purbeck Literary Festival. But his creative journey began as a seven-year-old aspiring artist.

"My uncle was an artist and when I was seven I was using highlights quite naturally, without any instruction on it," he explains.

"When I got to grammar school the first year I was at the top of the school in art. We had a change of teacher, there was a personality clash. By the end of the third year he had me bottom of the whole school. I gave up on it. But I always painted for myself because I had to."

When he reached 40, Geoff had just resigned from the Animaline charity he set up for Linda McCartney and decided it was now or never.

"It was fascinating what came out," he remembers.

"For the first ten years I painted things that concerned me - the planet, the animals. It all got very, very dark. I got together with a well-known local artist and we started to do some really interesting experimental stuff using each other's bodies - covering each other with oil and then paint and then pressing each other on the canvas."

Geoff's artwork inspired his writing and he went onto write poetry and story books on romance and about his concerns for the planet.

"I'm very visual", he explains, "even when I'm writing. If I'm writing a story I will see the thing in my mind and then I will describe it.

"Everything I do and try and communicate - I believe that abstract art should just be something that starts to stimulate the imagination. I try to do the same with words."

Geoff, 66, is five-times Saatchi short-listed for his artwork and has received similar acclaim in the literary world. His young adult novel was UN Peace and Sport endorsed and used as a teaching tool for troubled young adults, while Black Man With A White Face - a biography on English footballer Sir Stanley Matthews and his commitment to black football - led to him becoming a consultant for the BBC when they made a film of the same name during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"I guess you are always trying to find a way to get through to people," Geoff says of his work.

"Hopefully people can find something in the words and say 'I feel like that'. I think your art should come from the person within. You've got to do it for yourself."

With his background in animal rights - he set up and ran the initial paper recycling campaign for Friends of the Earth in 1972 and also set up the Enough campaign, which received support from Maureen Lipman, Brigitte Bardot, Joanna Lumley and Elaine Paige and first came up with the 'meat is murder' slogan - Geoff remains committed to the cause.

A recent exhibition in Lyndhurst raised £8,500 towards anti-poaching and orphaned elephants and he is planning another event in Brockenhurst in August, alongside running his new charity, No More Dodos, which uses art and sport to raise awareness of the threats to endangered plants and animals and their habitats.

"Nature, for me, is a wonder," Geoff says.

"I've never been one for God. I've explored all these things, but for me, nature is the thing. If there's a God, it's nature. Therefore, what we are doing and have done, particularly over the last nearly 50 years, is horrendous.

"We started No More Dodos a year and a half, two years ago. Since then we've come across so many people who are doing wonderful things. People are walking their talk, they're doing it, which is fantastic."

  • Geoff Francis will be at Swanage Library at 2.30pm on Tuesday, February to talk about his inspirations. Tickets are £3. To find out more about this and other events taking place as part of the Purbeck Literary Festival, visit purbeckliteraryfestival.info