TO MARK the bicentenary of John Ruskin’s birth there will be scores of events held around the world throughout the year.

February 8, 2019, is the actual date and to mark the great man's 200th birthday the people of Coniston are planning a day of celebration. The Ruskin Museum and Brantwood, in partnership with Coniston schools, St Andrew's Church, the Village Institute and other community groups, will join together to pay tribute to John Ruskin, his life, his works and his legacy to the village.

Brantwood, the former home of John Ruskin, has a packed and special programme pencilled in for this year, including two of Cumbria's finest young painters exhibiting their work.

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Through Floors, Within Rooms, is the first, from Ulverston's Stefan Orlowski, a very gifted and dedicated oil painter. Stefan's exhibition runs from February 16 until March 24, and features his incredibly sensitive, beautiful and sometimes disquieting portrait work.

It's also fitting that in the year John Ruskin is truly celebrated, another of the region's rising stars with huge potential, Daniel Cooper, shares the Brantwood spotlight with Stefan. Daniel exhibits in the Severn Studio from June 8.

His relationship with Brantwood began in 2008 when he worked in the house and gallery. During his time walking around Brantwood and east of the lake, Daniel captured his observations of light, cloud and fell. Using charcoal burnt on the Brantwood Estate and mixed media, he found himself immersed in the ever changing weather and skies, creating work that he said was the result of "a highly emotional connection to place."

Meanwhile, Patricia Townsend's Black Sun, Blue Light, Moving Image and Installation finishes at Brantwood on February 3. Her work explores the ways in which landscape can affect us emotionally. The Black Sun part of the show refers to her first ultra-high definition video, which shows a planet-like object slowly moving towards and away from the viewer. The second half is The Transience of Wonder, an installation of 50 'shards of sky' created by mounting narrow sections of photographs of the sky under thick perspex.

Catriona Taylor's Northerly or North West continues at Brantwood until February 10. Incorporating maps and words of the shipping forecast, Catriona’s paintings are inspired by the Scottish coastline and people's close relationship with the sea.