ART lovers are invited to celebrate St Valentine’s Day in style at the Inspired by…gallery at The Moors National Park Centre in Danby.

The gallery will mark the opening of three new exhibitions, featuring paintings, jewellery and multi-media work, with an extra-special Meet the Artists day on February 14.

All of the artists will be in attendance and A Garland of Flutes, a trio of flautists, will perform a special programme of romantic music for 30 minutes from noon, 1pm and 2pm. Visitors will also be offered wine and chocolates, and a 10 per cent discount off any purchases at the gallery.

The main exhibition features traditional and contemporary works depicting moorland and coastal scenes in the North York Moors National Park.

Of Our Place comprises the work of artists Pamela Scott, Ian Nicholas and Anthony Cox – collectively known as Viridian.

Pamela studied with and gained inspiration from leading artists in the North Yorkshire area. Her first love is watercolour, and she uses a wet-into-wet technique, mixing paint on the paper to give her work a fusion of colour and light.

Recently she has been experimenting with acrylic paint, adding texture using plaster of Paris and texture paste, giving the work a rugged look while still keeping a loose, almost watercolour, effect about the painting. Her work is included in many collections throughout the UK.

Ian was raised in Marske-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, and has been interested in drawing and painting from an early age. He is primarily self-taught.

The North York Moors and the surrounding area is a special place for Ian, although he has painted in many different places, he said they never match the feeling of open space and solitude the moors offers him as an artist.

Ian said: “Viridian artist group regard themselves as being very fortunate to be living in this part of the world, from open moorland, beautiful villages, woodland and coastal scenes all within the North York Moors.

“It holds much excitement and many challenges with it’s ever changing atmosphere and mood.”

Anthony’s love of art began at an early age and in the 1960s he was greatly inspired by Welsh/Canadian painter Llewellyn Petley-Jones, under whose tutelage he learned to paint in watercolour.

He has since developed his work in oil and pastel and now splits his time equally between painting and sculpture.

Anthony is greatly inspired by the area he lives in and loves the variety of subject matter around him. He is a long-standing member of several Northern art societies and a founder member of the Guisborough-based Priory Art Society.

He is represented by several galleries in the North East and has paintings and sculptures in many private collections in the UK, Spain, Sweden and the US.

Anthony said: “This exhibition is about the area in which we all live and love and our paintings celebrate its great diversity from quaint coastal villages to wild moorland. The ever changing light and different seasons provide an unending source of inspirational painting subjects.”

As well as Of Our Place, visitors to the gallery between February 14 and March 16 can see Love and Adornment: Jewellery by Vienna, Rae Finn Jewellery and Rachel Lucia and in Gallery 2, A Wondering Presence is a poetic exploration of the National Park and its surroundings, with paintings, prints, poetry, ceramics and photography by artist Wendy Tate.

The Inspired by… gallery at The Moors National Park Centre hosts changing exhibitions of work by artists who draw their inspiration from the landscape, life and colour of the North York Moors.

Admission is free, and the gallery is open in early February, weekends only, from 10.30am to 4pm, then from half-term and in March, daily, from 10.30am to 4pm.

Visit northyorkmoors.org.uk