THE West Country comes to North Yorkshire on April 1 after Bils & Rye Gallery owners Nick and Kate Bentley took time out in February to visit Cornwall.

“It was a bit of a busman’s holiday really,” says Nick. “We came back with some wonderful paintings and ceramics to add to our growing repertoire.”

One artist the pair visited was the self-taught Steve Slimm, who has been painting Turner-inspired land and seascapes for 30 years.

Slimm’s atmospheric impasto paintings are infused with luminosity inspired by Cornwall’s landscape and distinctive light. “We were immediately drawn to Steve Slimm’s work,” says Kate. “The depth he creates with the contrast of light and dark is transfixingly addictive. We can’t wait to have his paintings in the gallery.’

On show too will be the elegant works of Welsh sculptress Helen Sinclair, whose love of the human form is evident in tactile pieces that “exude calm and sophistication”, says Nick.

Meanwhile, another of Helen’s sculptures, Wednesday’s Child, is being exhibited in Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens in York.

The West Country Comes to Yorkshire: New Work by Steve Slimm and Helen Sinclair runs at Bils & Rye Gallery, Nunnington Studios, Low Street, Nunnington, York, from April 1 to 30.