A COLWYN Bay community art and craft gallery is to host an exhibition of pastel and oil paintings next month.

Keith Hall and Christine Gray will be displaying more than 30 pieces of artwork at the Bay Gallery from Friday, September 3 for the following three weeks.

The exhibition, which is free to visit, includes many scenes of North Wales captured through their plein air sketches, having been inspired by the picturesque views across the region.

Keith worked among the farming community in North Wales for 40 years, finding inspiration in its scenery for his oil and pastel paintings of the area, which he has created during the last two decades.

North Wales Pioneer: 'The Devil’s Kitchen, Cwm Idwal' by Keith Hall'The Devil’s Kitchen, Cwm Idwal' by Keith Hall

Christine, who moved to Colwyn Bay about a decade ago and began to pursue further her interest in art shortly after, said: “There are quite a lot of local ones. I’ve got one or two from other parts of the country, because I do like to travel, but I’m trying to concentrate more on North Wales.

“We’ve gone to various areas in Snowdonia, along the Conwy Estuary, to Anglesey, and in the mountains.

“I particularly like to look at the light and shade, which can be quite difficult outside because it changes all the time.

“I like reflections as well – I’ve got one across the Conwy Estuary with the reflections in the water as the tide goes out, and then another very simple little pastel of Rowen in summer, with the sunlight streaming across the road.

“Keith is a more established artist than me. He does some really great mountain scenes of well-known parts of Snowdonia, so it’s all-weather, really. It’s full of inspiration.”

The exhibition will debut with a special opening night on September 3 from 6-8pm at the Bay Gallery, which Merrill Jones, Mayor of Bay of Colwyn, will be attending.

There will be a ten per cent discount on paintings for this evening only.

It will then be free for the public to view for the next three weeks during the Bay Gallery’s usual opening hours of 10.30am until 4pm (10am-4pm on Saturdays; closed on Sundays).

Christine will also have a couple of pieces of her artwork on show at the Denbighshire Art Society’s annual summer exhibition, which opens on Saturday, August 28 at The Studio in Colwyn Bay.

For more information, visit: www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19512831.denbighshire-art-group-hold-colwyn-bay-reopening-exhibition.