MEMBERS of Sedbergh Art Society are brushing up and ready to put on another successful summer exhibition.

Sedbergh School Library is once again the venue for the wonderful and varied artwork which its members produce year on year.

In August last year, the society welcomed a record number of people to its showcase and sold 50 framed pictures as well as many cards and mounted paintings. This year the 43 members hope to build on that encouraging success.

Among those exhibiting from August 23-27 will be Ron Gerrard showing his most recent pastel painting. He likes to refer to himself as a leisure painter as opposed to an artist. He has had a life-long passion for painting, learning his skills by attending adult education art classes. He joined Harrogate Art Society a number of years ago, and in 1998 moved to Sedbergh. Once settled, Ron joined the creative ranks of Sedbergh Art Society, where he has developed new techniques.

He says his ambition is to develop watercolour skills, although he loves pastel, and finds leisure painting a stimulating yet relaxing activity, relieving day to day stresses through concentration.

Fellow member Jenifer Alison has lived since 1973 in Lowgill, looking on to the Howgills and the Lune Gorge. She has loved painting since childhood, always striving to catch the essence of a scene. She explained that it wasn’t until she retired from teaching in 2004, that she had the time to attend regular Adult Education Classes.

"I'm thankful to Gill Chaldicot and Lou Morton, art tutors at the time, for giving me the confidence in basic skills and inspiration. It was very exciting, when I realised that the techniques I was learning allowed me to express increasingly well on paper the beauty I observed around me. Now I love to create ever new effects with watercolour, and watch the colours flow together."

Marika Masztalir moved with her husband Stef to the Howgills from London four years ago and has never regretted it.

"A Royal College of Art graduate, I had retired from a career in fashion, working both in industry and further education. The contrast between the two lifestyles was both immense and exciting, offering new challenges and opportunities in every direction.

"During my professional career I helped create clothes which were understated, fluid and sculptural in their execution. In my new life a creative void emerged which was filled by an introduction to the Sedbergh Art Society through my friend and neighbour Jenifer Alison.

"Immediately struck by the generous support and encouragement of the group I have enjoyed many stimulating workshops and sessions. The society has a varied membership of people of all ages and backgrounds all sharing a common desire to paint.

"The inspiration for art is everywhere in the surrounding landscape."

Many members are recognised locally for their work, which has been displayed in the Kendal Art Shop Youdell’s, the Sedbergh Art Gallery and further afield. Among them professional artists who will be exhibiting their new work: Ruth Clayton, who works in watercolour and gouache; Anne McKinnon, one of the trustees of Farfield Mill, presently developing work in mixed media, specialising in flowers, gardens and local landscapes; and Brian Alderman who works in oils and acrylics will be exhibiting impressionist landscapes of the Yorkshire Dales.

Also on show will be Kath Lockhart’s artworks. Using landscape as her inspiration, she prints reduction lino cuts; sometimes using traditional methods, sometimes using caustic soda to etch into the surface of the lino, resulting in exciting and, at times, surprising results.

Sedbergh Art Society was founded in 1972 by Henry Wilson (Harry) Bracken, the well-known Sedbergh artist, who exhibited widely as far afield as the Royal Institution of Watercolour painters in London, and at the Paris Salon. His aim in forming the society was to encourage other local artists and to give them the chance to exhibit their work for the enjoyment of the community.

For further information about all the society workshops go online at www.sedberghartsociety.com.