LETTERS loom large in Lotte Inch Gallery's last exhibition of 2018, A Is For Art: An Artists’ Alphabet.

"This spectacular collection of works celebrates the diverse themes that emerge from the humble alphabet," says Lotte, who runs her gallery in Bootham, York.

On show is a wide selection of works by well-known British artists and print makers such as Emily Sutton, Mark Hearld, Clive Hicks-Jenkins and Tom Wood.

York Press:

Q Is For Quince And Quail, by York artist Emily Sutton

"The exhibition follows on from last year’s very successful festive show, A Few Of Our Favourite Things, and sees some of the gallery’s most cherished contributors returning to the space alongside well-known artists Chloe Cheese, Alice Pattullo, Christopher Brown and Tom Frost, among others, who are exhibiting here for the first time," says Lotte.

"Many of the works have been specifically created for this exhibition with each artist adopting their chosen letter and interpreting the theme in their own unique way. From birds and animals, to towns and past times, these combined works offer up a colourful, varied and light-hearted exhibition."

York artist and illustrator Emily Sutton is influenced by the Yorkshire landscape and countryside, as well as the peculiar, curious and wonderful objects often discovered in antique shops, museums and galleries. Since completing her BA in Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art in 2008, she has worked in different media, such as painting, prints, drawing and hand sculpted objects.

York Press:

R Is For Robin, by Debbie George

She has been commissioned by Bettys Tearooms, Hermes, and Penguin and has illustrated children’s books by Nicola Davis, as well as the V&A-commissioned Clara Button And The Magical Hat Day by Amy de la Haye, among many others.

Fellow York artist Mark Hearld, who has an MA in Natural History Illustration from the Royal College of Art, works in collage, lithographic prints, painting, linocut prints and ceramics, as well as printed fabrics and textiles. Influenced by the natural environment, the British countryside and wildlife, he has acquired such clients as Boden and Tate Britain and has collaborated with numerous museums and galleries in producing solo exhibitions and curating collections, latterly at Compton Verney in Warkwickshire.

East London illustrator Alice Pattullo regularly explores British traditions, folklore and superstitions, producing limited-edition screen prints. She works frequently to commission and has collaborated with brands such as Sainsbury’s, Fortnum & Mason, The V&A and Crabtree & Evelyn, and presented her largest solo show, Of House And Home, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in summer 2017.

York Press:

B Is For Beetroot, Bowl & Birds At My Kitchen Table, by Chloe Cheese

Illustrator, artist and printmaker Chloe Cheese often focuses on everyday objects, observed in situ and pared back to their most simple form. Born in London, to artist parent Sheila Robinson and Bernard Cheese, she studied at the Royal College of Art from 1972 to 1976, is patron of the Association of Illustrators and has illustrated several books.

Londoner Christopher Brown assisted Edward Bawden, the master of the linocut print, who gave him encouragement to explore this medium. In 2012 Merrell Books published An Alphabet Of London and now he is working on An Alphabet Of England, with some now on show in York.

Bath Academy of Art graduate Christopher Moss has a studio in the Yorkshire Dales and in Edinburgh. Working in silkscreen, woodcut, pen and ink, egg tempera and oils, Christian iconography and the design of early books are crucial influences on his style.

York Press:

Tyger Tyger, by York artist Mark Hearld

Newport-born Clive Hicks-Jenkins worked for 25 years as a choreographer and theatre director before concentrating full-time on painting. His work has been acquired by all the principal public collections in Wales and his artist’s books are found in libraries internationally.

Holmfirth artist Debbie George’s work is inspired by the everyday items she finds. Seeing the beauty in the simplest of objects, from food to flowers and many things in between, no item is too benign for her creative process. She paints using the ancient technique of “gesso”, mixing white paint with chalk, gypsum, pigment or any combination of these that she applies in layers and then scratches and scrapes to give her work depth and texture.

Swaledale-born artist, illustrator and printmaker Ed Kluz explores historic landscapes, buildings and objects with a contemporary eye. The ideas of early Romanticism, the Picturesque movement and antiquarian representations of topography and architecture underpin his approach to image making, as seen in his commissions from the V&A, Folio Society, Little Toller Books and St Jude’s fabrics.

Leeds freelance image maker and illustrator Pat Bradbury uses drawing, collage and text to create – in his own words – "strange and silly pictures". Since graduating from the University of Brighton in 2011, he has taught art in Vietnam, created commissions for a Papa New Guinean dance hall in Sydney and collaborated on a site-specific art project across an Icelandic fjord.

York Press:

I Is For Ice, by Emily Sutton

Pat now teaches at Leeds Art University as well as fulfilling commissions and creating his own playful work, which refines and strips down collage elements to create pared-back investigations of form and material.

Printmaker and illustrator Tom Frost has swapped working in Bristol for many years for dividing his time between print making, restoring his crumbling Georgian house in rural Wales and raising a young family. His clients include the V&A, Nomnom Chocolate and Yorkshire Sculpture Park and his art highlights a fascination for old matchboxes, stamps, folk art, tin toys, children's books and the natural world.

Tom Wood's celebrated portraits of Professor Lord Robert Winston and Alan Bennett, both commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, London, have been on display at the Australian National Portrait Gallery, Canberra. Increasingly, however, he is becoming equally known for his works inspired by the natural views from his studio; the wildlife, the birds and the greenhouses.

In addition to these original prints and illustrations on sale, Lotte Inch Gallery has new ceramics, jewellery and other gifts for all tastes and budgets.

A Is For Art, An Artists’ Alphabet runs at Lotte Inch Gallery, Bootham, York, until December 29.