HIGH quality work created by some of the top painters and ceramists working in the region share the spotlight this weekend in what promises to be a feast for the eyes.

Acclaimed artists Tina Balmer, Rebecca Callis, John Calver, Annie Coxey, Barbra Cropper, John Davenport, James Hake, John Kershaw, Rosie Wates and Frances Winder all feature in Art and Clay at The Athenaeum, at Leasgill on Saturday and Sunday (November 19-20), dishing up a creative mix to savour.

Frances Winder is interested in many forms of artistic creativity, including printmaking and ceramics, but painting will always be her first love. Historically, she's painted landscapes in gouache, watercolour and acryic, but in recent years moved towards more abstract expressions, which allows the Kendal-based artist to explore the surface of the work as art in its own right. Artistically, water holds a particular fascination for Frances.

Rosie Wates creates in paintings and theatre boxes mysterious spaces where dramas are played out: stories told, places visited and imagined, memories of times past and dreams future, sign and symbol. A well-known figure in the region's arts circles, her work plays between the abstract and the figurative. Rosie is co-director alongside fellow artist Tina Balmer of ArtFest North.

Like Rosie, Tina is also highly regarded, creating paintings that are an appreciation of the domestic and the ordinary. Flowers, vases, jugs, teapots on a table top, and various treasured objects are all creatively captured by Tina in relaxed and delicate visions of the everyday.

This year has been a busy year for Annie Coxey: she has exhibited at the Cologne Art Fair, been selected for an Italian residency and been involved in many local exhibitions. Annie works with collage, paint, stitch, mark making, resin and oil bars and is influenced by Cumbria's amazing landscapes and by maps, networks and symbols. Her recent work is based around sketches and photographs of debris from last year's floods.

Barbra Cropper exhibits far and wide and is a versatile printmaker, specialising in line etching and aquatint on copper plates. She particularly excels exploring nature especially trees in Cumbria and the sea with its many moods. Her work in Art and Clay is driven by her fascination for colour and movement. Formerly in Bowness, Barbra now works from a studio in Kendal.

Rebecca Callis is one of the leading lights of porcelain. Based at Studio 18d, at The Factory, at Castle Mills, off Aynam Road, Kendal, her finely thrown porcelain exhibits an truly understated elegance. Inspired by her love of the set table, and the rituals associated with food and drink, her work is refined and considered, consciously retaining the irregularities that serve to remind the user of the artist’s hand.

John Calver is one of the region's most distinguished ceramicists. He's been making stoneware pottery from white stoneware clays since 1981. Working out of his studio at Yealand Redmayne, he has exhibited widely, both in the UK and overseas, and is represented in a number of public collections.

John Davenport immersed himself in the wonderful world of ceramics when he took a stand at Potfest in the Pens in 2008. Prior to that, he said, ceramics had been at best an occasional hobby. Since, John has exhibited at Potfest each year and have gradually become involved in more local venues. And in 2014 he had two pieces accepted for the Lake Artists Society’s annual exhibition.

Over Kellet located James Hake, makes a range of sought after ceramic stoneware, thrown at the potter’s wheel. His work ranges from huge platters and bottles to delicate bowls and tiny lidded jars. Working at the wheel he produces work in a series, making families of similar forms each with their own subtle variations.

John Kershaw is another of the area's well-known potters. Although he still makes functional pottery he also works in a freer way with more individual work and a wide choice of materials.

Ancient Greek culture and holidays in Greece have influenced his work and he has work in galleries and craft shops across the UK.

Altogether, ten very good reasons to visit The Athenaeum.

Art and Clay is open Saturday, 10am-5pm, Sunday, 10am-4pm.