A NORTH Yorkshire gallery has seen paintings by Scarborough artist Peter Watson snapped up so fast it seemed they might all go before the end of the exhibition.

Beyond Art, at Nunnington, planned the show to run into mid- August, but visitors have been buying while the paint is still wet.

“We have enough now, thankfully,” said gallery owner, Kevin Bradshaw, “but there was a point where I did wonder whether we would as they kept disappearing as soon as he’d finished them.”

Despite being relatively unknown, Watson is showing work in the From Turner to Hockney exhibition at the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate. He is inspired by the vibrant colours and spectacular landscape of the Yorkshire Wolds, moors and coast.

He said: “I’m particularly struck by the juxtaposition of farming methods on the natural terrain which give an ever-changing variety of shapes, colours and patterns.

“It produces beautiful almost abstract landscapes of vivid and vibrant colours, such as rape, poppies and linseed but also subtle variations of ochres and earth colours found in ploughed and ripening wheat fields.”

After many years as a teacher, he was inspired to take up painting seriously while visiting his future wife’s home near Rotherham and being influenced by industrial landscapes of the area.

His exhibition at Rotherham library was seen by a Coal Board official, which led to a commission to record 14 collieries in South Yorkshire, now part of the collection at the Mining Museum in Wakefield.

The exhibition in The Barn, Church Street, Nunnington, runs until August 15. Opening hours are Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm.