I THINK it's fair to say the annual Lake Artists bash is one of the best of its kind.

Many look forward to the August exhibition at Grasmere and its top-notch mix of work.

And I often dip into previous exhibition catalogues to reflect on some of my particular favourites.

For now, though, the Lake Artists Society is busy blowing the dust off historic minute books, exhibition catalogues and sales ledgers in anticipation of the society's centenary in 2004, to be celebrated by the publication of a book about the society and its members.

Flying the flag for the society is its vice president and well-known creator Phil Hobbs: "The quality of Lake Artists exhibitions has always been very high and in recent years has compared favourably with anything at the Mall galleries or similar London venues.

"We are hoping that as well as celebrating the last 100 years, the book will further raise the profile of the society.

We have just 45 members and the high standards of the annual exhibition are due to election and selection - membership is by election and non-members' work exhibited by selection.

"Anyone who has a painting by a member of the Lake Artists Society, from any period in its history, is likely to have a work of some importance.

"Members have always been as careful selecting work for the Lake Artists' annual summer exhibition as they would be for the RA, RSA or RI.

We hope the book will celebrate the achievement of a group of painters who quite simply and quietly got on with what they loved doing best, and whose work has delighted people throughout a century."

Tracking down recent work by artists poses no problems, but the task facing the society's biographer, journalist Jane Renouf, also involves collecting anecdotes, biographical details and at least one work suitable for reproduction in the book representing about 100 of the society's earlier and founder members.

"Unlike writers, a painter's legacy is on canvas rather than through the medium of letters or diaries, which leaves biographers few means of tracking their movements or work," Jane tells me - something she discovered when writing her last biography, Alfred Heaton Cooper - Painter of Landscape.

Many owners of paintings may not know whether or not the artist was a member of the Lake Artists Society, and the list of names is too long to print.

So Jane is appealing to those who own or know of any likely works painted between 1904 and 1960, and who would be willing to have them included in the book, to contact her on 015394- 34411.

A full list of members can be found on the society's website at www.lakeartists.org.uk