Last updated 14:22, Monday, 31 March 2008

Looking at the portfolios of work you’d think they were the result of a lifetime of experimentation coupled with time spent refining skills, yet Ted Bidgood and Carol Brook are relatively new to the art world.

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Daydreams: From the His and Hers II exhibition

For Ted, the discovery that he had a natural talent for painting came after a horrific accident in 2003.

His hobby as a keen motorbike racer saw him taking part in the Isle of Man Grand Prix that year but an accident during the race left him with a broken spine, paralysed and confined to a wheelchair.

But with the encouragement of partner Carol he is putting his creativity to good use.

Following the accident he had to retire from his job as a civil engineer for Balfour Beatty and started out designing the signs for race bikes but this proved difficult when the bikes had to be moved so Carol, who had started painting in 1998, suggested he tried to paint.

His painting started out as an aid to recuperation but he soon found people began to notice his natural flair for capturing the emotion of his subjects and what he describes as his “photo realistic” images.

And this is without ever having an art lesson. He said: “I started copying photographs and portraits and then became more artistic and started making up my own compositions.”

One of Ted’s specialities is portraits, mainly in oil but he also works with pastels and charcoal.

One of his notable successes was his face of gang rape victim Mukhtar Mai, which became one of the biggest attractions at an art show at High Head Sculpture Valley in Ivegill last year.

The acrylic image depicts the Pakistani woman who was a victim of a brutal gang rape – a story which shocked the world in 2002.

“When I heard the story it brought a tear to my eye,” said Ted. “This moved me so much that I wanted to paint her face.”

Ted feels his life experience has helped him to channel a talent. He said: “I like to work from dark to light. I may start with a black canvas and then things come out of the canvas as I add light. This helps me to capture the mood of my subject. I find painting a release and it helps to pass the time although I do miss the camaraderie of my old job.”

Ted exhibited his work with the International Guild of Artists in Ilkley and was then elected to be an associate member of the British Society of Painters in 2005.

The couple moved to Hornsby, near Cumwhitton, in 2006.

Carol first started to paint after retiring from teaching. When the landlady of their local pub in Barlborough near Sheffield showed her a picture of the village she decided to try to paint the scene.

“I started painting as a hobby,” she said. “Being an English teacher has helped me to understand what is needed in order to interpret an image.”

It was the success she had with her paintings of local interest that spurred her to carry on painting.

She said: “I like to paint a lot of different things and experiment with subjects but I do a lot of wildlife and animal portraits using a lot of mixed media such as pastel on watercolour and oil on acrylic.”

She was elected to be an associate member of the British Watercolour Society in 2005 after exhibiting with the International Guild of Artists at Ilkley.

Ted and Carol work in their studio at home and have distinctive styles and subject matter.

Since moving to Cumbria they have been encouraged by the local arts scene. “People aren’t frightened about having work by an unknown artist on their wall,” said Carol.  “There are still people who want original work in their homes rather than prints.”

The couple have an apartment near Valencia in Spain and spend several months there each year.

Carol, who has also never received any art training, finds that she can paint while away and the couple have held exhibitions there.

Their new exhibition, “His and Hers II”, is being held at The Pheasant Inn in Cumwhitton from Friday, May 23 to Sunday, June 1 and will feature around 40 new works, which will be on sale, with prices ranging from around £75 to £300. It is the second time the couple have exhibited at the pub.

They also have work on display at The Queen Inn, in Great Corby.