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email this page to a friendA former session musician with the pop band Hue and Cry is showing off her artistic skills in another medium at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Yoredale offices in Bainbridge.
Lesley Birch, who played keyboards with the band in the 80s, is showing some of her collection entitled ‘Land & Sky’ – inspired by views in Yorkshire – in the reception area of the offices.
She is the latest in a long line of local artists who have been invited to exhibit their work in Yoredale.
I aim to capture the feeling of the land, coasts, moors, lochs and seas, conveying the essence of a scene, simply and spontaneously, leaving detail to the viewer's imagination
Lesley Birch
Authority Head of Finances and Resources Richard Burnett said: “The reception area is an ideal venue for exhibitions, and the displays have proved to be real talking points both with people visiting the offices on business and with others who have come in just to look at them.”
The Harrogate-based artist uses acrylics and oil as well as charcoal and pastel on paper and board.
"My paintings and prints reflect the energy present in Nature,” she said.
“I aim to capture the feeling of the land, coasts, moors, lochs and seas, conveying the essence of a scene, simply and spontaneously, leaving detail to the viewer's imagination.
“I am concerned with the power of colour to convey mood and I revel in the process of painting, the consistency of the paint and the 'feel' of the brush on the canvas or printing plate.
“Flowing colour impressions are interspersed with fleeting bursts of texture and pigment that crack across the image, capturing the beauty, strangeness and drama of nature."
Lesley exhibits all over the UK and recently won a Derwent award from The Artist Magazine. She was selected in 2006 and 2008 for the Leeds Open and won a highly commended at the 2008 Harrogate Open.
The exhibition will run until the end of next month (October) in the offices, which are open between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
