WORKS by highly respected Cumbrian artist Godfrey Tonks are centre stage in the Ruskin Museum's autumn art exhibition.

Godfrey lives and works in the Eden Valley and is inspired - like countless other artistic talents - by the stunning landscape of the Lake District. His exciting exhibition is full of pure vibrant colour and rich sensuous texture. The intensity of scarlet winter bracken, tender green spring leaves, sunlit yellow grass, purple tree trunks of an evening, brooding, sculptural Cumbrian fells, and snow-bound Castlerigg stones by mystical moonlight, all resonate in perfect harmony, true to the spirit and constantly changing moody light of the Lakes.

Godfrey's Landscape of Romance, One Man’s Vision of the Lakes runs at the Coniston museum until Sunday, November 18.

He says he has always been fascinated by environments and attempts to identify the defining characteristics of a particular landscape. The region's weather, light and seasons offer inexhaustible possibilities for the landscape artist.

"My oil paintings are built up using paint textures, mainly using painting knives rather than brushes. They are reworked over time to create a rich and satisfying textured surface. Light, colour, atmosphere and texture all combine in my interpretation of the wild and romantic places, where the Lake Poets identified the spiritual place of man in relation to his surroundings.

"Each picture is an experiment and I am often surprised by the way the painting seems to develop a life of its own. I can never entirely predict the finished outcome, which, is of course, how it should be."

Godfrey was born in Lancashire. He studied at Burnley Art School, and then Swansea College of Art and Swansea University where he gained a distinction. After a time teaching, the urge to express himself through art became too strong to ignore and he became a full time artist. He has exhibited in London for many years, and his work is represented in many countries around the world. His earlier output was in mixed media, then pastels, but for some years he has focused in working with oils.

The Ruskin Museum is situated on Yewdale Road, Coniston.

For further information telephone 015394-41164.