NUNNINGTON gallery Beyond Art feared it would not have any paintings to display for its latest exhibition when they kept being sold as soon as they were finished.

The gallery in The Barn, in Church Street, had planned an exhibition of Peter Watson’s new work to start in July and run through August, but the art was proving so popular that people were snapping pieces up when the paint was still wet.

Gallery owner Kevin Bradshaw says: “We have enough now, thankfully, but there was a point where I did wonder whether we would as they kept disappearing.”

Peter’s work is increasingly collectable and, despite being still relatively unknown, is featured in the on-going FromTurner To Hockney exhibition at the Mercer Gallery in Harrogate.

Peter, from Scarborough, says: “I’m particularly struck by the juxtaposition farming methods on the natural terrain giving an ever changing variety of shapes, colours and patterns.

“It produces beautiful almost abstract landscapes of vivid and vibrant colours such as rape, poppies and linseed, but also subtle variations of ochres and earth colours found in ploughed and ripening wheat fields.

"I was influenced by the industrial landscapes of the area which led me to producing a series of paintings and an exhibition at Rotherham library where my work was seen by an official from the Coal Board,” he added.

“This led to a commission to produce a record of 14 collieries in the South Yorkshire area and which are now part of the National Collection at the Mining Museum at Wakefield.”

At Beyond Art, Kevin Bradshaw concentrates his time and effort on a select few Yorkshire artists whom he thinks are extremely talented but are yet to be household names, such as Watson, Liz Churton and Jonathan Pomroy. “I see a lot of art in my job, but I only choose work which is absolutely head and shoulders above the rest,” he says.

The exhibition opens on Saturday and will run until August 15 with the gallery being open Wednesdays to Saturdays, 11am to 4pm. Visitors will be invited to make donations to the RNLI, a cause close to Peter’s heart, for the duration of the show.