ONE of Cumbria's most respected painters is the focus of a new exhibition at Ravenstonedale.

Work by the amazing Tom Oldham will be on show at The Scar Gallery, which is owned by David William Morris and Caroline A Metcalfe-Gibson.

David says they're emptying their gallery of all other works to put on a two-week show of Tom's paintings - oils, watercolours, plus some of his pastels and drawings. These include local landscapes and from further afield. portraits and still-lifes, for which he is probably best known.

Entitled Exhibition of Past Work, the show includes paintings from the early part of Tom's career, mid period and those of more recent years.

Tom was born in Manchester 1928 and has stopped painting of late because of the deterioration in his eyesight.

He's lived in Newbiggin-on-Lune since the early 1970s and was a postman locally for many years, making drawings during his lunch break of local scenes.

Tom's been a long-standing member of the Lake Artists for 40 years and has held many exhibitions in Cumbria and elsewhere. The 87-year old's also been a member of both Kendal and Sedbergh art societies for many years.

"I am an objective painter and need to paint from direct observation in order to experience the immediacy of the subject," explains Tom. "I enjoy the sensual qualities of swiftly applied paint and am not interested in achieving a highly finished photographic effect. I like to be able to see the structure of a painting, how it was made, rather than to be ‘wowed’ by a work in which all evidence of the brush has been blended out of existence.”

The exhibition runs at The Scar Gallery, until Sunday, April 3, open from 11am-5pm.