Last updated 11:14, Monday, 28 July 2008

A new exhibition by a local artist known as The Wood Lady opens tomorrow. Watercolours, oils and acrylics by Pat Gill are going on show in the Alex Boathouse at Talkin Tarn, near Brampton.

Pat, 66, was born in the Isle of Man and travelled extensively before settling in Cumbria in 1987.

She took up watercolour painting in 2000, and earned the title The Wood Lady for her distinctive paintings of shadows cast by wildlife on wood.

Pat got the idea for painting the shadows of animals after glimpsing one at her home in Southwaite.

She was working on paintings of wood and explained: “A bird flew over our conservatory and I didn’t see it, but I saw its shadow on the wooden fence for a split second, and thought this was something I could turn into a painting.”

Pat’s work has featured at a number of Cumbrian galleries, including Upfront near Penrith, the Painted Penguin in Caldbeck, Orton Grange and Gossipgate in Alston.

She has also had pictures published recently in the Society of All Artists spring magazine and one of her works, entitled Homes on the Hill, received a finalist’s commendation in this year’s Society of All Artists International Competition.

The exhibition runs from tomorrow until Saturday August 3.

It will be open each day from 10am to 4pm.

Admission is free and all work is on sale.