THERE’S some effective use of paint – both bold and delicate – in Dewsbury Arts Group’s Spring exhibition at Dewsbury Museum, Crow Nest Park.

You certainly can’t miss the big faces with heavy impasto brushwork which hit you in the eye as you enter the gallery. This is Josie Barraclough’s oil portrayal of Artist and Pupil.

But next to this are the soft, watery oil colours in John Squires’ amusing river and bridge painting, The Battyeford Flasher.

Among the wellknown names whose pictures are on view, David Wood has lost none of his skills in his green or coloured compositions in oils, with his leafy, floral study Across the Border, my choice among his three fine efforts.

Malcolm Jones’ Thornhill Winter, with its terraced houses in snow, glows with realism. Full marks, too, for another winter study, Bruce Mulcahy’s Dewsbury from Caulms Wood, an industrial scene painted in his characteristic and easily recognisable gouache.

Going for something more exotic where subject matter is concerned. A J Bennett in his acrylic of Temple Newsam, Leeds, invests the portal and facade of the building with a quiet sunlit dignity, while Trevor Pittaway uses delicious, well-chosen colours in his Venetian scene, Palazzo Michiel del Brusa.

In a completely different and modernist mode is Joyce Wider’s vivid acrylic, Wash Day in Australia, with lush vegetation and bras and knickers prominent on the washing line.

Still in contemporary style, Susan Rhodes successfully tackles an everyday subject, the Dewsbury Road Commute (oil) with its long column of cars passing the semis en route.

John Squires works successfully on a large scale with his print of St Peter’s Church, Birstall, complete with figures, and A J Bennett provides an entertaining composite acrylic of Alan Bennett, 1952 (no relation, one assumes).

Among the portraits, Ken Beaumont's Steve pencil) is a characterful full-length study, and his pretty blonde, Sarah, (pastel) also deserves a mention. Josie Barraclough’s frowning baby, Justis Crowther is a delightfully human piece in oils.

There’s an impressive tapestry, Georgian Land, with strong narrative content, by Larysa Willoughby and Vivienne Brown’s work in textiles and coloured pencil demonstrates her usual deft handling.

The exhibition runs until Marsh 30 and is open seven days, Monday to Friday 11am to 5pm and weekends 12noon to 4pm. There’s a pleasant cafe for refreshments, with views over the park’s display of winter pansies.