Discover work from leading artists at local venues

Peak District Photography Gallery

Local watercolour artist, photographer and writer Christine Gregory has an exhibition of her photographs of wildlife in the national park at Bakewell Visitor Centre from 12th May to 27th June.

Christine, who lives in Youlgrave, is the author of A River in Time about Bradford Dale, and Brown Hares in the Derbyshire Dales. She has developed an extensive photographic archive of nature and landscape images which complements her special knowledge of brown hares and other local wildlife. Christine said: ‘You could say I am obsessed with wildlife! I love to be in quiet places watching animals going about their lives, my greatest goal is to be invisible so I can get very close up to the animal and achieve a real insight into their life. My images give a private view into what wildlife does when it is undisturbed – if I startled them you would see it in their eyes.’

Her work will sit alongside that of local professional photographers in the Peak District Photography Gallery, upstairs at Bakewell Visitor Centre in the Old Market Hall, Bridge Street, DE45 1DS, www.peakgallery.co.uk.

Chatsworth at gallerytop

Since the beginning of the year, highly acclaimed artists Chris Prout, Chris Bennett ROI, John Cheall, Liz Churton, Julian Bray, Harry McArdle and Jill Ray have been working in the Chatsworth estate, capturing the magnificent house, gardens and parkland. The result can be seen in this exciting, beautiful and unmissable exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints at gallerytop in Rowsley until the end of June.

Ingleby Gallery

The gallery near Melbourne will be showing the exquisite still-life paintings of Steven Tandy in June. Steven’s small oil still-lifes vary from very traditional fruit and wine compositions to quirkier ones that satisfy his inclination to paint only in natural daylight. He strives to capture the beauty and atmosphere of the cool northern light and is drawn to depicting objects that catch his eye, such as fruit and antiques, enjoying the way simple, sometimes unrelated items can come together within a composition to create something unique. Stylistically ‘realistic’, Steven is a great admirer of 17th century Dutch painting and contemporary Netherlands Realism. On show from 15th to 29th June, Wed to Fri, 10am–5pm, Sat and Sun, noon to 5pm.

Following her exceptionally successful solo exhibition last year, Carol Hill will also be exhibiting Derbyshire landscapes and other country scenes in June.

St John Street Gallery

Buxton artist Louise Jannetta has an exhibition at the Ashbourne gallery during the town’s Festival, starting with a private view on 14th June, 4-8pm. Entitled ‘More than Paint’, this collection of paintings shows her love of experimenting in a variety of mediums, with a theme of using their individual properties to best advantage. Louise enjoys playing with the way that mediums work together: canvas, papers and even string all absorb or reflect pigments in their own way. This creates its own ‘tonality’ in the painting which Louise says she just ‘allows to happen’.

The diversity of Louise’s work can evoke a response that is deeper than the actual image. The woods she paints are full of light that lasts for a moment but remains in our memory.

The exhibition runs to 6th July, Tue-Sat 9.30am-5pm. St John Street also has workshops by John Connolly, ‘Colour, Light and Texture in the Landscape’, 10th and 11th June, and by Lewis Noble on 16th and 17th June.

Rex Preston

Rex Preston, one of the county’s most highly acclaimed artists and a landscape artist of national and international renown, has a major exhibition until 31st May at the Red Rag Gallery in Brock Street, Bath. Rex’s passion for the Derbyshire landscape remains undimmed and over 40 of his oil paintings are on show. Rex’s beautiful paintings are a combination of time spent painting and sketching outdoors, memory, imagination and skill, and they continue to entrance an ever-growing number of followers.

Derby Cathedral Centre

‘Beyond the Garden Fence’ is this month’s exhibition at Derby Cathedral Centre. The artist, Anna Thomas, has a first class degree in Art and Psychology and an MA in Ceramics but since the arrival of her four children she has concentrated on painting and small sculptures that are influenced by the countryside around her home near Ashbourne. She says, ‘I am fortunate in being surrounded by fields, brooks, hedgerows and winding lanes. At first glance the landscape is understated, but it holds a limitless wealth of subject matter for creative endeavours.’ Her exhibition evokes the intricate detail of the natural world just beyond her garden fence. It opens on 2nd June in the Sir Richard Morris Lounge at Derby Cathedral Centre and continues to 30th June, Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm. Closed Sundays.

Pollyanna Pickering

Wildlife artist Pollyanna Pickering has always been fascinated by wolves and her latest paintings and book celebrate both these elusive creatures and the endangered and exotic wildlife that shares their habitat. An exhibition and the launch of the book, entitled Way of the Wolf, will take place at Pollyanna’s private gallery at Brookvale House, Oaker, Matlock, DE4 2JJ, from 14th–29th June, 10am–6pm. This book is the latest in a series of lavishly illustrated journals by Pollyanna, while the event also commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Born Free Foundation. In celebration, 10% of all sales of Pollyanna’s extensive ranges of greetings cards, fine art and limited edition prints, books and giftware featuring her work, will be donated to their conservation projects.

Tarpey Gallery

From 7th June to 26th July, Laine Tomkinson’s ‘Perfect Day’ exhibition will take over the main gallery space. Laine is a fine art printmaker based in the East Midlands who currently specialises in silkscreen and intaglio processes. Much of the work shows natural forms, flowers or organic shapes, ‘tumbling, moving, dancing – almost bursting out of the frame’. She was recently shortlisted for the prestigious Printmaker of the Year Award.

Cromford Gallery

During June the vibrant en plein air oil paintings of Derbyshire resident Colin Halliday will be on show at the gallery in Cromford’s Market Place, open Wed-Sun 10am-5pm.

Ellie Depp

Chesterfield-born abstract artist Ellie Depp’s bright, colourful paintings are on show at The Montgomery on Surrey Street in Sheffield city centre until 4th June. For this series Ellie has created striking images from geometrical shapes and lines, commenting, ‘I wanted to take a step away from flowers and try something completely different. These works have been inspired by Kandinsky and Joan Miró – bright, expressive colours and lots of geometric shapes and overlapping sections.’