IN Ruins is the title of Brighouse artist Peter Brook’s latest exhibition at the AC Gallery, Byram Street.
It’s an appropriate moniker. Ruined farmhouses in the Dales – a major part of Peter’s stock is trade – feature heavily in the show.
As ever, it’s the narrative titles that add to the entertainment.
“Drawing outside but an invitation to take a dram cannot be refused (here we see the farmer at his door)” is one such.
Across the Valley is a sparse scene, with Peter and his sheepdog just visible in the distance.
There’s a real feel of the Pennines in Walking round Hawes on a Monday, and a fine farmhouse in “Drawing outside but invited in for a brew.”
In a snow scene it’s a “hard climb for me, but easy for the dog.” There are super textures for the dry-stone wall, and in Freezing, a real sense of loneliness in the road and fields, but you can tell for Peter it’s still good to be there.
Heading for a Barn in Swaledale typifies the field patterns and corner barns in the part of the Yorkshire Dales, and there’s a wonderfully atmospheric feel to The Morning Walk in the Mist.
Snow and sunsets make for some fine pictures – so, too, is “Getting a feeling for this old Pennine farm in the Moonlight.”
“Out drawing on a lovely Pennine Day” is another evocative title – of course, with Peter, the ground is covered in snow!
And there’s delicious pink sky for “This classical Pennine farmhouse was abandoned.”
Peter’s sheepdog discovers a sheep in an outside toilet in one picture, in a nice touch of humour.
The exhibition closes on October 31, when Roger Davies, who has recorded a CD about Peter’s art, will be singing.