STILL life is celebrated in all its colourful meditative glow in a fresh exhibition running at Mary Gavagan's Settle art gallery.

Recognising the importance of the studious and inert art form, Still Life - A Celebration showcases a range of works by Tina Balmer and other contemporary northern artists, including Ruth Addinall, George Melling, Derek Setford and David Thomas.

Running in Gavagan Art's Settle Town Hall gallery until May 12, Mary - highly regarded former director of the Lancaster University art gallery - says still life paintings are enduringly popular. "Whether you think of the detailed depictions of flowers and fruits by 16th Century Dutch painters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder or the dramatic 20th Century cubist compositions of Picasso and Georges Braque, it's been an important genre in western art for centuries. I’m fascinated by the variety of ways in which artists depict everyday objects, from food and flowers to jugs and vases, usually arranged on a table top or shelf. You could call them inanimate objects, but to me they are full of life."

"In this exhibition I wanted to show how some of our most renowned contemporary artists are creating still life paintings to celebrate everyday life and domesticity. In their compositions, we get a glimpse into the artists' homes and studios, even their lives. From Tina Balmer's exuberant and colourful flower arrangements to the carefully observed botanical studies by Derek Setford, the variety shows how still life painting remains a versatile and intriguing art form that resonates with many of us today."

Tina Balmer is well-known across Cumbria since she moved with her family to Ulverston in 2006 from Newhaven in Sussex.

Painting full time, she joined the highly respected Green Door Studios network at Kendal. Soon after she joined the Printfest Committee, taking up the director’s role the following year for Printfest 2008. Later she joined the artists’ cooperative which set up and built the Beach Hut Gallery in a disused railway station building at Grange-over-Sands.

She has organised open houses, art trails and exhibitions, including Artfest North with another leading Lakeland artist Rosie Wates, and is renowned for her vibrant still life paintings, which she describes as "an appreciation of the domestic and the ordinary. Visions of the everyday are both inspiration and celebration."

Tina graduated from St Martin’s School of Art in London in 1993, where she studied fashion design. She has been exhibiting paintings since 1998. Her solo exhibitions include Coniston's Brantwood, Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre, a wide range of group exhibitions, including the Stables Gallery at Glyndebourne Festival.

Ruth Addinall is a painter and sculptor living and working in Edinburgh. She loves to experiment with different styles and describes her work as being split into "imaginary" and "from life." She has been exhibited widely, including in Edinburgh, London, Portugal and Montreal.

George Melling has exhibited widely, including at the National Portrait Gallery, Imperial College, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and, on numerous occasions, at London's Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition. While the Preston-based artist work tackles many topics and themes, he is particularly drawn to the landscape.

Liverpool born Derek Setford now lives in Bolton. After a year at Leeds College of Art, he continued to study drawing, printing and printmaking at Slade School of Fine Art in London. He later became acting principal of Rochdale College of Art and after retiring in 1990, was elected as a member of the Society of Wood Engravers. Having spent most of his life working and living in different parts of the north, Derek's works often depict elements of the Lake District and the Pennines.

Last, but certainly, not least, David Thomas has been painting continuously since leaving Cardiff for North Yorkshire in 1989. He paints in oil on board, panel or canvas, mainly creating still life compositions.

Still Life - A Celebration is open Thursdays to Saturdays, from 11am-4pm.