TWO West Devon artists found to their surprise they had more than a little in common when they got together to look at each other?s work for the Nine Days of Art festival, which begins this weekend. When Julia Barton, from Inwardleigh and Isabella Whitworth from Hatherleigh looked at at each other?s work, they found they had both been inspired by meadows and grasses. In Julia?s case, the source of inspiration and ideas was the culm meadow on her own Milland Farm. Julia?s work, in the form of prints, drawings and paintings, explores the changing elements of nature as well as tracks and traces left by man and animals. Julia has recently been working on a series of prints and paintings inspired by the colours and textures found in old buildings in the Dordogne region of France. The work will be on show in her studio near Northlew during Nine Days of Art, which runs from Saturday, September 9 to Sunday, September 17. Visitors to the studio will also be able to watch fine art printmaking in progress and talk to the artist about her work. Isabella paints and dyes silk scarves and shawls, using wax-resistant and acid dyes. Her work is sold in galleries throughout the UK. Observations, studies and drawings of the grassland on the Little Moor at Hatherleigh have been the inspiration for much of her textile work in the past year. She will be showing a selection of her latest scarves at Thomas Roberts House, Hatherleigh and offering short demonstrations of various dyeing techniques. There will be drawings and sketches on show as well as a rare chance to delve into the bargain basket. Just down the road, at the Salar Gallery in Hatherleigh, there is an exhibition of landscapes by Ashton Chadwick and Judi Morton. These are just a handful of the 30 venues taking part in the Nine Days of Art. The event offers an artistic tour of the borough to showcase painting, sculpture, fabric design and photographs being produced by talented artists in the local setting. For further details about the full range of artists taking part, pick up a copy of the Nine Days of Art catalogue available from tourist information centres in Okehampton and Tavistock, or you can download a copy by visiting the West Devon Borough Council website at http://www.westdevon.gov.uk">www.westdevon.gov.uk