CUMBRIAN artist David Hollins is preparing for a new exhibition, ahead of opening this weekend.

David, who lives in Carlisle, was asked by Ben Heslop at Edwin Talbot Gallery in Carlisle to feature some of his work in an upcoming display.

The award-winning artist will launch eight of his new paintings at the exhibition tomorrow, while also being on site to talk about his work.

“I’ll be there from 10am until 3pm,” explained David. “I’ll be chatting to people as well as signing any prints anyone wants. This exhibition will feature eight of my new paintings of Carlisle.

“I was invited by Ben to showcase my work and it has come at quite a good time.”

David has just won Carlisle Living magazine’s Creative City Award.

The ceremony, held on September 6, saw David up against contemporary and media artist, Daniel Ibbotson and ceramicist Caroline Nash.

He said: “It’s been really exciting to win this award, because I was up against some extremely talented people.”

The paintings that will feature in his latest display are of well-known Carlisle landmarks - some are places that people will recognise, but there are also portrayals of lesser-known corners of the city.

“I chose bright days to go out and paint so that I could capture the light and incorporate bright colours, but also get the shadows in there with different colours too,” David explained.

“Some of them are done at sunrise to get another view.

“They’re very colourful.”

David, who is a member of Carlisle Contemporary Arts Collective, has recently received international recognition for his pictures of Workington landmarks.

The works were for an exhibition in the cafe of the town’s Carnegie Theatre, but were so striking and popular that the town council has made prints of David’s depiction of Navvies Bridge to send to twin towns, Val-de-Reuil in France and Selm in Germany. These were handed out at a special ceremony.

The commission from these paintings and other works David has been doing, has encouraged him to keep going.

He explained: “It has encouraged me to carry on with the painting and get out and about doing it.

“It has been a challenging year, but it’s really great to get out and work outside and paint what you are seeing.

“It’s been so reassuring to get great comments off people. I’ve had lots of comments on my Carlisle paintings.

“People have told me they connect with the paintings and that they have a personal connection.

“I’ve actually sold quite a few to people who have moved away from Cumbria and come back and recognised places that I painted.”

The exhibition at Edwin Talbot Gallery, in Crosby Street, will run for 10 days from tomorrow.