David Beresford, who lives in Weeton, will be among more than 200 artists taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios, which takes place on the weekends of June 6-7 and June 13-14.
He said: “I’ll be showing work that spans 30 years of working in Lower Wharfedale and my travels.
“It’ll be placed in sheds, in my studio, in the entrance, in the garden – it’s going to be all over the place.
“I’ve also been looking at some of the early landscapes that I’ve never really shown before.”
Mr Beresford, the son of a miner from Hickleton Main Colliery in Thurnscoe, began his artistic journey at age 14 when he enrolled at Barnsley School of Art.
He later attended Hammersmith College of Art and the Royal College of Art.
He said: “Because it was either art school or down the pit, I suppose.”
His interest in film led him to Yorkshire Television in Leeds, where he worked on the very first episode of what was then known as Emmerdale Farm.
He later became an independent documentary maker, creating films about the Yorkshire Jazz Band and the Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir.
In 1994, he produced an opera about a 1944 mining disaster, staged at the derelict Hickleton main pit.
Mr Beresford said: “We dug a great big amphitheatre at the derelict Hickleton main pit and managed to get some funding for it.
“All the local people were waiting to see what the weather was like – and if it was good they would turn up.
“We had to delay starting it because we had a line of people right down into the village, and we did it for three nights running with 2,000 people in the audience.
“It was phenomenal.”
He has also worked with poet Ian McMillan on projects in the UK, Argentina, and Mexico.
These collaborations led to an exhibition of paintings and poems in Mexico City.
Mr Beresford’s art is inspired by travels in India, Mexico, and Italy, as well as the landscape around his home in Weeton.
This includes the remains of the medieval fortress Rougemont Castle.
He said: “All you can see is earth mounds now, it’s all trees. I was thinking about the sort of people that must have lived there.
“You can almost hear the kids crying and the people shouting and the horses.
“I was looking at medieval figures as well and how they used to put animal heads on themselves and dance about – so I did a series of paintings around that.”
He enjoys sharing his work with the public, even if it means tidying his studio.
The studio, built from straw bales, sits in his one-acre back garden.
Despite a career spanning television and the arts, he finds particular meaning in connecting with visitors.
He said: “You can do as many programmes as you like, but someone buying a piece of your work because it moved them is really something else.”
North Yorkshire Open Studios allows visitors to meet artists, see their processes and purchase original works.
Brochures and maps are available for £5 from nyos.org.uk/brochure.
Supporters can also become a Friend of NYOS to receive a brochure and 15 per cent off work over £100.
Full details of participating artists are available at www.nyos.org.uk.
More information about Mr Beresford’s work can be found at www.davidberesfordart.com.
