THE chance to brush up on the work of tin sculptor Lucy Casson comes at Godfrey & Watt's Harrogate International Festival exhibition, where her latest pieces include Rake.

Born in 1960 into a family of potters, she spent much of her childhood "constructing things out of jumble-sale finds and bits lying around" and was never tempted to pursue the family line.

Lucy studied textiles at Camberwell but by the early 1980s she was specialising in making sculptures out of recycled tin.

Without any formal training in metal-working, she has developed her own way of working with simple tools and processes, also incorporating found objects such as plastic teacups, balls or knitting needles.

"Lucy contrasts the colour of the plastic with the patterns and colours of the tin," says Alex Watt, of Godfrey & Watt. "It is these found objects that often provide the basis for a sculpture. By observing the behaviour, gestures and moods of people around her, she has evolved a strange world of little creatures, engaged in everyday activities which mirror human behaviour. With their gentle humour, they are curiously engaging."

Godfrey & Watt has exhibited Lucy Casson's tin sculpture since the early 1990s, and the latest selling exhibition runs until August 27.

On show too is jewellery and silverware by Shona Carnegie, rising star of Scottish contemporary jewellery. She lives and works in the French Alps and her pieces are inspired by the imagery collected in her travel diaries in India, Mexico and Peru.

HUTTON le Hole Art Group's 18th annual exhibition will be held at Hutton le Hole Village Hall from August 6 to 14, open daily from 10am to 5pm.

The exhibits are the work of local artists, some professional, others amateur, and their media range from watercolours to oils, acrylic to pastels. Admission is free and all donations and exhibition proceeds will be donated to Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

ART In The Open, David Greenwood's exhibition of pastels, opens at Kentmere House Gallery, Scarcroft Hill, York, on Thursday evening.

Gallery owner Ann Petherick says: "David Greenwood is a Yorkshire-based artist whose reputation is deservedly growing.

"He works in pastel, with great energy and often in the open air, on subjects such as Yorkshire abbeys, Venice and the excitement of a race meeting." Kentmere House Gallery, overlooking York Racecourse, is open every Thursday evening from 6pm to 9pm; on the first weekend of every month, in this instance August 7 and 8 and September 3 and 4, 11am to 5pm; and at any other time by arrangement on 01904 656507.

Art In The Open runs from August 4 to September 29; Greenwood's work is for sale.

Updated: 16:51 Thursday, July 28, 2005