PAINTINGS and photographs by four local artists is on show this month in central Bradford.

Artists Steven Spencer and Catherine Gilford will be exhibiting their paintings, while Jason Feather and Simon Sugden will be displaying their photographic images.

The exhibition, Urban Light, at The Bacaro wine bar in Sunbridge Wells, has been organised by Steven Spencer and Catherine Gilford of The Bradford Arts & Crafts Network.

Steven, from Bradford, studied at Bradford School of Art, going on to complete a degree in fine art at the University of Wolverhampton’s School of Art & Design. His artistic career includes many years as an editorial artist with the Telegraph & Argus. “I have always been inspired by the landscape of the Pennines, its wild, gritty, moody, and sometimes harsh moorlands and the objects that punctuate those environments,” he says. “In contrast, having worked in the textile industry in my teens I have a great affection for the district’s forlorn, post-industrial remains - a great deal of my work focuses on this.”

Artist Catherine, from Baildon, is well known in the local arts and crafts scene and organised several steampunk and Gothic fairs in recent years. Her recent paintings are inspired by places and objects that have a great importance for her.

Bradford-based Jason’s work is well-known through the images that have featured in the Telegraph & Argus Camera Club pages, showing readers’ photographs. “The light, shade and reflections of Bradford’s streets and buildings are his inspiration, sometimes evoking the loneliness of the urban landscape,” says Steven.

Simon, from Keighley, is a well-known urban photographer who is inspired by the forgotten edifices to the past. His work, often in unsafe situations, gives us access through his work, to the secret life of these derelict buildings where nature begins to fill the voids left by long gone occupants.

Urban Light is the second of the group’s exhibitions which explores the use of alternative art space. “Often people don’t get the time to visit mainstream galleries and venues like The Bacaro are a great way for us to introduce our artwork to a new audience and help promote those businesses that are working so hard to create a vibrant and enjoyable experience for locals and visitors to our city,” says Steven.

The venue is a new venture by Gail Aspinall-Cooke who runs the Horsebox Pizza Company in Sunbridge Wells. “With an interior design background, she has really created a tasteful environment - a perfect setting for our work,” says Steven.

The artwork on display is available for sale.

Although only in it’s first week the exhibition as helped provide a spring board for our next venture which is of a larger scale and much more adventurous next spring.

The exhibition runs to October 27. The artists can be contacted through Facebook: Steven: @WoolCity Art. Catherine: Art by Purple Raven. Jason: @appertunityJasonFeather. Simon: @suggyspics