AN annual summer exhibition opens later this month and will feature work by one of the country's most renowned pastellists.

This year’s Bardsea Schoolroom Art Group and Ulverston Society of Artists Summer Exhibition runs from Friday July 31 to Sunday August 2, with works for sale including  A Park in Pastel , signed by the late Christopher Assheton-Stones.

Also exhibiting is 88-year-old Ron Stacey, who started the Bardsea Schoolroom Art Group in 1972 with just 12 members supported by internationally-acclaimed tutors willing to share their techniques and secrets. 

He says: “It is rare to find so many artists in one place using soft pastels so proficiently and so one could argue that the tutor who made the most impact on the Bardsea Art Group was the late Christopher Assheton-Stones.

"Renowned as one of the UK’s most important pastellists, he used very fine sand paper as a base for soft pastel as he believed it held the medium better than standard pastel papers. He also persuaded Unison to create a new series of 36 greys, named the Assheton-Stones set, to promote a more dramatic effect in his artwork. 

“Today, there are still members of the Bardsea Schoolroom Art Group who remember him and as well as using watercolour, oil and acrylic, many are pastellists who follow his style and uphold his legacy as a very influential, national artist.” 

A pastel painting by Ron Stacey, View of the Langdales , is also being raffled to raise funds for the art group. 

Opening times for the exhibition are 10am to 4pm each day, and The Schoolroom, opposite The Ship Inn in Bardsea, offers free parking.