Friends get together for Himley Hall art exhibition

Friends Keith Turley and Brian Fletcher have united to parade works of art from over the years at Dudley's Himley Hall.

The former art teachers have collaborated on exhibition 'Places, People, Faces', with more than 80 pieces of art set to feature at the historic venue for the next four months.

Mr Turley said: "It's a two-man show, we have been friends for some time. It has a whole series of image, some of them are very locally-based.

"Brian's work tends to be more landscape, although he does have portrait pieces there.

"My paintings tend to be quite large, featuring subjects such as glass or chain making.

"There's quite a lot of colour, we both like strong colour and we both work in quite a large scale."

The pair featured in an exhibition last year hosted by the Dudley Society of Artists before they were invited to display their masterpieces at Himley Hall.

'Large striking images', including pieces which are about 4ft high, now tower across the 18th Century building after the exhibition's launch on Saturday.

Many of the images have been inspired by the Black Country, including the region's glass, chain and quilt making industries.

Visits to the Black Country Living Museum and the canal locks in Wordsley also inspired some of the pieces.

Mr Turley, 68, said: "We are both very pleased about it. We were there on Saturday to see it, largely for the first time.

"Staff from Himley Hall hung the exhibition pieces so we didn't know how it would all look. It looks very good indeed.

"The people that came on Saturday seem to be very impressed with the scale of the work.

"Art has been part of my life for a long time. Before teaching, I was painting and drawing as a teenager."

Residents, who can see the exhibition until May 19, will be able to quiz the two artists at a special event this Sunday.

Both will be at Himley Hall from 11am until 4pm to speak with guests about their works of art.