THE Dales is brimming with artistic talent and a lot of artists and crafts people living and working locally will be throwing their doors open to the public during the first two weekends of June.

 

 

THE art event is part of the North Yorkshire Open Studios. From 10am till 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, June3 and 4 and again on June 10 and 11, you will be able to visit selected artists across North Yorkshire invite you in to their private world with the chance to view and buy cutting edge craft and design, contemporary sculpture, paintings and ceramics.

There are 38 artists exhibiting their wares right on your doorstep in the Dales area. All artists are working professionally, some for several decades in their chosen field, others are emerging artists, new to the professional scene, with fresh ideas and creativity.

Some will doing demonstrations of how they work over the course of the weekends. During the exhibition visitors will be able to vote for their favourite two dimensional and three dimensional artists with the two winners receiving £200 towards their professional practice.

You can see details of work and plan your trip online by visiting the NYOS website: www.nyos.org.uk . There are also brochures which can be picked up in local art shop and visitor attractions, or in some cases from the artists themselves. This is a unique chance to support local artists and to buy original work for your home or as a present for a friend.

Three NYOS participants talk about their life and practice: Sarah Pawson, a lino print artist said: "I illustrate aspects of nature which I then carve into lino in order to produce prints. Once I have the design drawn out on the Lino I know I have to really focus and it can be incredibly therapeutic. Lino printing for me is a bit of escapism as my life working as a teaching assistant and bringing up two children is very demanding. If I make a mistake when carving, the medium I use is very unforgiving and if the error proves to ruin the print then I have to start over again.

"I have only been doing this properly about six years and I am self taught. I loved art at school and wanted to become a book illustrator, but somehow I became a nurse instead."

Sarah is exhibiting in a shared studio at Allison Wiffen Ceramics, Higherland House Barn, West Street, Gargrave.

Artist Brian Burton said: "I Initially trained as a painter. I sidestepped into textile design to fulfil my parents' request to 'find a proper job'! After achieving my degree I lectured in drawing and design for nine years whilst also freelancing in fabric and carpet design, chiefly for the New York market. I then took on an 'in-house' design role continuing to work for the Yorkshire textile industry for the next 20 plus years.

"Throughout that whole period I continued to paint, exhibiting and selling my work occasionally. I have built up a body of work inspired by the stunning North Yorkshire countryside that surrounds me. My paintings are slowly and subtly built from layer upon layer of textural marks, whilst they are all the result of direct extensive observation they are not 'photographic' representations." Brian is based at The Old Coach House, Hetton.

Stout Duck (Matt and Rose): furniture makers, run by Matt and Rose, design and create handcrafted, free-standing and fitted furniture combining wood, metal and stone. They produce made to order limited edition studio pieces as well as bespoke commissions. Matt has had a varied career working with stone, metal and wood, always working with his hands. In 2016 he trained as a designer-maker at the David Savage School of Fine Furniture.

Rose grew up between England & New Zealand. After graduating with a degree in Art and Design from Camberwell School of Arts, London. She trained in 2016 as a designer-maker at the David Savage School of Fine Furniture, where she later worked teaching short courses.

Every bespoke piece comes with its own challenges, with wood being a relatively unstable material, which is constantly taking on and losing moisture, which in turn causes the wood to move. With all of our work this wood movement has to be taken into account within the design to ensure that the piece stands the test of time. They work with a few small local sawmills who source their timber from managed woodland and trees that are either storm damaged or have come to the end of their growing cycle. Buying from them esnures the timber has come from a sustainable source and is often milled on site, reducing the carbon footprint. 

Stout Duck is based at Bay Horse Farm, Sour Lane, Thorlby.