RED Barn Gallery stages its first exhibition of 2016 with an inspiring show of ceramic work, paintings and jewellery.

Springtime Showcase runs at the Melkinthorpe gallery, near Penrith, until April 30, and features the sculptural ceramics of Peter Hayes.

Each of Peter’s curved forms show elements of both rough and smooth worked, shaped and burnished to create unique surfaces, resulting in a timeless feel which could be interpreted as a modern statement or an ancient totem. He combines his clay pieces with other elements, including marble and granite. His inspiration comes from his travels to Nepal, Mexico and Japan, and he currently works both in his Bath studio and Udaipur in Rajasthan.

He says he finds it joyful to work with many different materials. He adds: "Each has its own character, its own limits, its own tolerance. Some materials fight back, some play the game. I am merely the maker."

In contrast, the popular gallery is showing the figurative sculptures of Dalesman, Alistair Brookes. Enhanced by the smoke effects of the raku kiln, the vitality of these figures is captivating, humorous and yet emotive. Miners worn down by work, Shepherds caring for their sheep and men about their work and leisure, each one a character, each one sensitively captured in clay with its own story to tell or imagine. Alongside his clay work, Alistair is also showing a collection of his paintings and drawings, in a variety of media, including the iPad, which are inspired by the mining communities, the landscape of his home and travels to France.

Alistair points out that clay artefacts are embedded in all our cultures and continue to endure the ravages of time: "Contributing in some small way, I try to depict life and times in the Dales and also of a time remembered growing up in a mining community. I can happily stray from pottery to painting in the same vein."

On the jewellery front is Andrew Helme's Gobannos collection. Andrew is a local jeweller from the Alston, who works with crystals, semi-precious stones, wire and beads to make individual pendants on hand crafted chains. The metals he uses are copper, silver and bronze incorporating strong wire work with fine detail directed by the shape of each individual stone. Gobannos was a Celtic smith from the Tuatha De Danann tribe (Fairy Folk) of Ireland: "While I don't use any heat to create my pendants I like to think they have been kissed with the fires of passion and creativity from his forge. Each pendant is unique and handcrafted by myself. There is no glue used just the inherent properties of the metal, the mineral and my muscle."

Red Barn is open daily, 10am-5pm. For further information telephone 01931-712767 or visit www.redbarngallery.co.uk.