A ROSS artist who is mounting her debut exhibition at a local church says Herefordshire's 'ever changing light and seasonal variety' gives her endless inspiration.

Karen Hartwell Baker, 64, can often be seen with her easel in fields and byways near How Caple, where she lives beside the Wye.

For her first exhibition she has assembled a collection of local outdoor scenes and some from her travels abroad. Her oil paintings of Herefordshire are notable for their broad, dramatic skies and a sense of permanence amid changing weather.

Karen, who has lived in the county on and off since her teenage years and attended Hereford Sixth form College, returned here full-time after her husband Nick died in 2010.

Their son Charlie Baker is co-landlord of Ross's newly-reopened Riverside Inn.

Mother-of-three Karen has been painting for eight years and took lessons at the Welsh academy of art, which teaches in the classical style.

She likes to paint 'en plein air', even it is sometimes means she has to pack away her easel quickly to avoid approaching squalls.

'I am lucky to have a fabulous view from my garden,' she said. 'The ever-changing light and seasonal variety in the fields offer a new scene almost ever day and I never tire of trying to capture it.'

Her exhibition at How Caple church will run from the evening of Thursday, July 26 to Saturday July 28. Some of the proceeds from each sale will go to the church, which said it was 'proud to encourage art, particularly when it catches so skilfully the parish and its bountiful beauty'.

Karen will also be taking part in Herefordshire Art Week, a nine day art trail open to all, that runs from September 6 to 14.