AN artist's first solo exhibition in North Yorkshire for more than 15 years is on show until next month.

The exhibition by James Naughton, A Journey in Paint, features a body of work that further explores numerous environmental and elemental inspirations spanning a 20-year period.

James said the exhibition represents a layered experience, from the open sea to a mountain peak and everything in between – moving through various aspects of the landscape both intimate and expansive, as would happen in a story or quest.’

His landscapes are instantly recognisable by the delicacy of lighting and his affectionate understanding of the topography of landscape – a fusion of painterly skill and patient observation.

James was born in Bolton in 1971. He studied Print Making at Leeds Metropolitan University and, after graduating in 1994, he started to focus on his painting, becoming absorbed by the application of oil paint and the intensity of the play of light within his work.

He allows the landscapes to emerge from the surface, being not of specific places, but based on remembered experiences and feelings from time spent walking.

James has exhibited widely, nationally, and internationally, won numerous awards and his work features in many private and public collections, including the Manchester City Art Gallery.

For more information, see jamesnaughton.com.