NECESSITY as they say is the mother of invention and we have seen a lot of this over the past weeks of unprecedented lockdown. Health workers, carers and emergency services have battled through astonishingly. Many businesses are struggling through and the number of events cancelled has been heartbreakingly endless.

So we do admire the North Yorkshire Open Studios, a group of determined artists many of whom make their bread and butter painting, sculpting and making ceramics.

When their biggest showcase of the year, the open studios, which involves them throwing open their doors and inviting people in to see what they do and how they do it, had to be cancelled they refused to be beaten.

Over two weekends on June 6 and 7 and 13 and 14 many of the artists are still throwing open their doors. Now of course it's online through films they have made themselves, showing off their work and hoping people will be intrigued enough to find out more, make a purchase or even when the nightmare of coronavirus subsides call and see the reality for themselves.

62 of them have turned filmmaker, producing with the help of professional Josh Hallett these final extravaganzaswho. With the world in such a tricky situation it's quite uplifting t o think these creative people are beavering away in their studios, homes and galleries and are desperate to share their hard work and endeavour with us all.

Even though many are on the doorstep or just a few miles away we don't even have to travel we can become armchair art connoisseurs for a few days.

www.facebook.com/NorthYorkshireOpenStudios