PEN and ink drawings from Lakes-based artist Clive Oliver will go on display in South Cumbria this week.

The Beach Hut Gallery Artists cooperative at Kents Bank Station, near Grange, will be hosting Theme and Variations, featuring sketches of Clive's Cumbrian surroundings.

The exhibition opens on Friday July 29, and is the latest in a string of showcases at the unique gallery, based on Kents Bank railway station platform.

Clive says: "Life is a process of constant change. For many years my main practice involved combining stitch with stone in a kind of embroidered sculpture.

"However these days drawing and sketching is my main preoccupation.

"Theme and Variations is a collection of recent work that has mainly come about as a result of sketching trips, sometimes locally and sometimes further afield. I like to stop and sketch anything that takes my eye, although in most cases the initial sketches will be finished back home in the warmth and comfort of the studio.

"There's nothing I enjoy more than packing my old van and setting off for a sketching trip - I hope some of this pleasure will be communicated to exhibition visitors."

Clyde started stitching and making objects in paper and cardboard at around the age of six, eventually becoming studio assistant to tapestry maker Marta Rogoyska in the 1980s.

In 1991 Clyde attended art school as a mature student taking foundation studies at City of London Polytechnic, and has gone on to exhibit work both nationally and internationally, with pieces featured in many publications both at home and abroad.

He now lives in the Lake District, where the rocky landscape provides both materials and inspiration, and his desire to draw has inspired a small group of like-minded artists, to meet as often as possible, and join him in observing the Cumbrian countryside, whatever the weather.

Theme and Variations opens at the Beach Hut Gallery on Friday July 29, and will be on display until September 18. Opening times are 10.30am to 5pm, Thursday to Sunday, as well as on the August Bank Holiday Monday.