Dales Countryside Museum: Yorkshire's landscape inspires the art across three generations of same family

Mr Hicks, who lives in the North York Moors, is a landscape artist who works in watercolours.

His daughter, Beverley, is head of art at Skipton Girls’ High School, and her specialism is in abstract paintings, while Phoebe’s artistic talent manifests itself in metal and stained glass.

A student, who is studying at Newcastle Univeristy, Phoebe’s work is inspired by the built and cultural heritage of the Dales.

Beverley’s inspiration comes from landscape features, and she often takes photographs of the environment around Malhamdale, including fence wire and wool left on dead trees by sheep who used it as a scratching post, which are then reflected in her paintings.

Speaking about her art, Beverley said: “I think it really is about engagement with landscape. But inevitably it’s about me, and it’s a reflection of me.

"It’s a way that I can communicate with people probably better than I can in any other way.”

Beverley, who lives in Airton, also uses circles as a recurring theme in her work.

“It’s not a bad thing to look back and take the best things of what you’ve done in life, and use those. The circles came about when I won a scholarship to go to Australia and I looked at the dot paintings. That was where they came from. They [the circles] have always been somewhere in the paintings but I wanted to bring them back again [for this exhibition].

“For me the grids are a comforting way of responding to the landscape.”

Derek Twine, who is the member champion for promoting understanding at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, which runs the Dales Countryside Museum, said: “This is a very special exhibition by artists who are living in Yorkshire’s National Parks – Beverley in Airton, where Phoebe grew up, and Peter who lives in the North York Moors, but often paints in the Yorkshire Dales.

“It was noted at the exhibition opening that locals are used to coming across Peter ‘in the middle of nowhere with his sketchbook’, at Malham Tarn, Settle tops, Gordale, or at the riverside in Airton.

"Beverley’s interpretation of the landscape is a reflection of her deep connection with it, while Phoebe herself has said her work is inspired by her family and growing up in North Yorkshire. So this is an exhibition deeply rooted in the landscape of the National Park.”

‘Reflections and Connections’ can be seen at the Dales Countryside Museum until December 31.