Quirky cyclist characters and local landscapes populate the works of Calderdale artist Michelle Campbell, who is one of the stars of a new exhibition, celebrating the Tour de France, at the Harrison Lord Gallery in Brighouse.
Over the past year, Michelle has accumulated a body of work that explores Yorkshire’s part in the Grand Depart – from maps depicting the two stages of the race in our region, to cyclists pedalling their way through the county’s finest scenery.
She says her le Tour pieces were influenced by watching a film called ‘Belleville Rendezvous’, an animated adventure of a woman’s journey to find her kidnapped son during the race.
Michelle explained: “I was struck by the fact that the story could easily have been set in Yorkshire, so I immediately started creating images inspired by the film.”
Her first character was ‘Dynamo Derek’, who is captured on canvas as he passes the Shoulder of Mutton pub in Mytholmroyd, and was followed by ‘Reliable Robin’, who is whizzing past the Robin Hood pub in Cragg Vale, up the longest continuous incline in England.
“I’d enjoyed a few drinks there and it’s one of the key climbs on the route,” she added.
Among other artists featured in the Brighouse show, which closes on Saturday, July 5, are Jane O’Neill, who has produced a range of Tour de Yorkshire glass coasters, key rings and other memorabilia; Tony Noble, whose realist paintings of bicycles are superbly detailed; and Alex Tomlinson, creator of a commemorative print celebrating the sporting ‘Tyke’.
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