ART and ecology artist Amanda Pellatt has mapped the terrain of Dartmoor through a series of paintings that have gone on display at the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity in her first solo exhibition.

Entitled 'From Above the Watershed', each of the paintings on display at the centre in Princetown are an individual interpretation of particular aspects of the Dartmoor landscape throughout the seasons. The exhibition also includes colourful new works of glass by Bryson Hendry.

Amanda — who lives in Ivybridge and is a resident artist at Duchy Square — took the title for her exhibition from John Wesley Powell's interpretation of Watershed, which he described as 'an area of land within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course'.

Powell was an American geologist and explorer, famous for the Powell Geographic Expedition in 1869, a three month river trip down the Green and Colorado Rivers, which included the first passage of European Americans through the Grand Canyon.

The works were inspired by Amanda's passion for the contemporary field of art and ecologies in which she helps communities living on Dartmoor to experience their surroundings in a completely different way.

Amanda said: 'My intention is to find new ways for people to re-engage with their local environment and rediscover a sense of place, with arts acting as a catalyst.

'I use art as a means for people to look at the environment in a completely different way, helping them find a new perspective on a locality that some of them may have been familiar with for many years.

'From my studio at Princetown, I am right in the heart of Dartmoor and this has enabled me able to walk, research and map the terrain of the moor in my own unique style.'  

Opened in March last year and supported by a number of organisations, including Duchy of Cornwall and Devon County Council, the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity offers low cost workshop space on two floors and is helping boost the local economy by connecting local businesses with other key industry sectors.

The artists and creative practitioners take part in workshops organised by the centre, but also stage their own sessions with smaller groups in their own studios.

Anyone wishing to find out more about all the workshops on offer should call (01822) 890828 or visit the website http://www.duchysquare.org">www.duchysquare.org where contact details for all the artists can be found.