Exhibition shows more than 40 pieces of art

Harrison Lord Gallery, Brighouse from August 11.

This special summer exhibition features work by Leeds artist Mark Sofilas (pictured) and Michael Abrams from Wakefield. Both painters excel at landscape painting. With their innovative and unique styles, they have provided the gallery with an uplifting body of work featuring landscape and seascape scenes. Mark Sofilas’s paintings are heavily guided by the emotions of particular scenes which he then tries to convey to the viewer. Exaggerated colour and perspectives help his work to arrive at a nicely balanced place, where the image created has not only captured the physical qualities of the scene, but more importantly, the feeling of the occasion. Michael Abrams found inspiration for his new collection by tapping into his Yorkshire roots. “I don’t necessarily have to observe things in the traditional sense, I just let my mind take a walk and see where it takes me.” His new paintings depict a Yorkshire character with his dog walking in the Pennines. He has been inspired by the work of artists as diverse as David Hockney, Beatrix Potter and Picasso and in the cartoon styles of Ralph Steadman and Terry Gilliam. He starts with a very simple sketch trying to get a pleasing composition and then works quickly with a limited pallet to ‘feel’ his way around the canvas until he is happy with the colour harmony and brush strokes. He often applies paint with rags and uses his fingers to manipulate the paint and give energy to the line work. In addition to the two leads there is work from eight other artists on show featuring over 40 new paintings that capture the essence of the British countryside in a unique and original fashion. Other artists featured in this exhibition are: Roger Davies, Sheryl Roberts, John Sibson, Francesca Roberts, Clare Haley and Rozanne Bell. The exhibition is free to enter and runs to Sept 5.