Art at The Old School House, Leyburn

JUDITH Pinches brings a touch of sunshine and joy to the Café Bar at The Old School House arts centre in Leyburn until January 8 with her fascinating and wide-ranging exhibition.

You cannot help smiling looking at her Inuit Owl or be captivated by her Spirit of the Cree. Her floral studies, particularly of blue irises, are excellent and her Geraniums in Sun look forward to the balmy days of summer, though Storm Gulls clearly remind us of winter.

This is a good example of how she imaginatively plays with colours to create pictures which are slightly abstract.

Her enthusiasm for colour and shape with a dash of imagination is more evident in Rainbow Pots with its joyful mix of colours and shapes. Maybe it was inspired by more sunlit days in Cyprus, where she lived for many years and where she started drawing and painting.

She said: “I belonged to a delightful international group of amateur artists.”

She and her husband now live in Gayle in a cottage owned by her family since 1921, so hopefully we will see more of her work.

Whorlton Art Group had an exhibition in the studio above the Café Bar in December. The group run by Jane Young and David Hall caters for all working in any medium, through sculpture and painting to digital. They meet in Whorlton Village Hall on Monday mornings and evenings.

The theme was Flight and included an amusing act of flight before a charging African bull elephant and angry looking rhinoceros.

Other pictures were more conventional, such as Jenny Cathcart’s picture of the display by the Russian Aerial Team at Farnborough Centenary Air Show, Jon Smith’s brightly coloured air balloon soaring into the blue and Bing McEwan’s Damselfly.

Delightful flight of imagination were found in Jean Cashman’s Northern Lights, dancers painted by Irene Thomas and Elizabeth Ashworth’s Sunrise from Harris. It was evident the group has fun.

The Old School House is open from 10am-5pm, Monday to Saturday, and also for evening film showings on Fridays.

Pip Land