But selling is becoming a struggle for legions of talented artists and makers who must now put their creativity to the test with new ways of showing their wares.

One of the most successful ways of selling is from a domestic setting, which is why Open Studios have become so popular.

Artists throw open their inner sanctums for a long weekend and invite the public in to see where they live and work.

Settle-based artist Margaret Uttley says: "Galleries can be sterile and people like seeing work in a home environment because they can relate to it.

"They also like making the connection between the art and the person who created it. Artists like doing open studios because they get public feedback, which is essential, although you have to be careful not to focus too much on the marketability of your work because that's very destructive to creativity."

Selling in this way doesn't always have to be from your own home.

Margaret's friends, Francis and Karen Shaw, are turning their magnificent home – the castle Hellifield Peel – into a temporary gallery to show her work. They are teaming it with pieces by eight more of their favourite painters, sculptors, ceramicists and jewellers.

Margaret is curating the selling exhibition, which runs from July 10 to 12 and says: "This is a terrific opportunity to place art within such exciting architecture, which is at the same time a warm, domestic environment."

The property, in Hellifield, near Settle, is famous for being voted the nation's favourite Grand Design in 2007 after featuring on the Channel 4 programme.

The Shaws' Herculean task of bringing the 12th-century ruin back to life won praise and admiration from presenter Kevin McCloud.

Francis Shaw, who is a partner at Brewster Bye Architects in Leeds, says: "The main reason for holding an art exhibition was to support local artists and to give them a platform to hopefully sell their works.

"The credit crunch has meant that many artists are finding it harder to sell in difficult times and galleries are going for safer, well known work.

"As a keen amateur artist myself, I have a strong interest in art, ceramics, and sculpture.

"We are friends with Margaret and her husband David Knight and we have several of her paintings, as well as some of David's beautiful abstracts.

"My mother is a keen potter and I have also collected ceramics for most of my life. I particularly like the works of Liz Bowe, Steph Black, David Roberts, and Eddie Curtis."

Owning original art is something many people aspire to, but fewer people feel excluded from browsing and buying. Margaret says: "It's no longer a middle and upper class purchase. People recognise that a piece of original art is something that enriches your life.

"It doesn't have to cost a fortune either. In fact, you can buy something original for the cost of a print, and original always has the edge. It comes from the heart."

The exhibition is from Friday, July 10 to Sunday, July 12 and is by invitation only as numbers are restricted. For an invitation, email info@thespiralgallery.co.uk or call 07963 850339.

Hellifield Peel is also a luxury B&B. For details, visit www.peelcastle.co.uk