Artist Jackson in frame for fundraiser

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Naveeda Ikram, has invited people to attend a fundraising evening with the landscape painter to raise money for a hospice in the city.

People will be given a unique opportunity to meet, observe and listen to the Holmfirth-based watercolourist, whose brooding moorlands are synonymous with his native Yorkshire.

The event will be held in the Banqueting Hall, City Hall, on Thursday, December 8 from 7pm.

Tickets cost £12.50 per person, which will include a light supper and donation to the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal, which is this year supporting Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Bradford Hospice.

People can also buy raffle tickets to win a limited edition print by Jackson.

The print, valued at £300, depicts the derelict Top Withens farmhouse in Haworth, which is reputed to have inspired the location of Wuthering Heights in Emily Brontë’s classic novel.

Although there are no known records that state any reference to a Brontë connection to the farmhouse, stories have been passed down which suggest the ruins are connected to the novel. A plaque at the ruins explains the connection.

Raffle tickets are available in advance and on the evening at a cost of £1 each or a book of five tickets for £5.

Coun Ikram said the evening was an ideal way to meet the artist and raise money for a vital cause.

She said: “Ashley Jackson is one of the country’s leading landscape artists and this evening will be a unique opportunity to meet him in an intimate venue.

“I hope people will join us for a fascinating celebration of art, life, and Yorkshire that will also raise valuable funds for my Charity Appeal.”

Ashley Jackson, who has a gallery in Holmfirth and was raised in Barnsley and Huddersfield, has been an ambassador for the arts throughout his 50-year career and he has striven to encourage people to take up art and appreciate the beauty of the landscape around them.

He opened his first gallery in 1963 and currently lives and works in Holmfirth, made famous by the long-running BBC television comedy Last of the Summer Wine.

Jackson’s evocative and distinctive paintings have been exhibited worldwide and he was honoured when the former United States President Bill Clinton was presented with an original watercolour.

He has held exhibitions in the UK as well as New York, Chicago and Milan.

To book tickets for the evening with Ashley Jackson or to buy raffle tickets, call the Lord Mayor’s Office on 01274 434965.

Or email: [email protected]

[email protected]