WHEN Natalia Dolgova and Peter Whiteman first met less than 12 months ago there was an immediate bond between them.

And now they are staging an exhibition together in Huddersfield.

Called Kindred Spirits, this fine art exhibition will be staged at the North Light Gallery in Armitage Bridge.

Peter has had a long career as a designer for stage and screen and has worked on props for films such as Gladiator, Braveheart, The Mummy and Harry Potter among many others as well as designing stage sets and exhibitions.

He now returns to his first love of painting.

Natalia has travelled to the UK from the far east of Siberia, having learned her craft in Siberia and St Petersburg.

She has been exhibited all over northern Europe but this is the first time that she has exhibited near to her home in Netherthong.

The exhibition is open to the public, free of charge, from 10am to 4pm Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from October 20 to December 16.

Natalia and Peter both say that they felt an immediate affinity and a desire to work together.

They have a common love of painting and wider art and both take their inspiration from the spirit of the landscape and people around them.

Natalie’s partner, John Donner, said: "There was an immediate need for each of them to impress the other with what they could do. Over the last year, both have been inspired to create and to work at a higher standard than ever before.’’

Peter is presenting some 40 works embodying the spirit of music.

Each piece is inspired by different music and the ‘spirit’ may be seen as a physical presence in the piece or as an atmosphere visible in the painting.

One of his works called Endlessly is inspired by the eponymous track from the album Absolution by Muse. Is this angel the object of his endless love?

Tuareg is influenced by the music of Natacha Atlas – the camel train may be heading for Bilaardi from her album Gedida – and people will certainly feel the call of the desert as we look at this piece.

Peter now lives and works from his home in France but returns regularly to the Holme Valleys.

Natalia was trained in monumental art in Magadan and St Petersburg.

Her work has always been inspired by the spirits and legends of the places she has lived from the Chukchi of Siberia via the sophistication of St Petersburg to the calm of northern Denmark and now to the Yorkshire countryside.

She takes inspiration from both the Russian tradition of iconography and from the great renaissance masters.

She creates luminous works where the spirit of the central character shines from the canvas whilst the surrounding detail provides a never-ending source of interest as you find out more and more about the central character both physically and metaphorically from the detail of their surroundings.

In Queen of the Road you will meet a travelling spirit, the queen of travellers, being helped on her way by an angel. Maybe this is a part of Natalia herself as she has come half way round the world to work in Yorkshire.

Sirin and Alkonost features two legendary half bird half woman creatures.

Sirin sings of the beauties of events to come while Alkonost’s song is darker and makes the listener forget life itself.

In the portrait we see how they are both the same and yet totally different in the way they react to the beautiful moon and the gift of an apple.

Despite regularly exhibiting across northern Europe from Russia to the UK, this is her first exhibition close to her home in Yorkshire.

Natalia will exhibit some 20 works inspired by the spirits of the lands where she has lived.

So you know where to go for an interesting – and free – afternoon out.