The work of a talented late Tavistock artist has gone on display in a town centre pop-up exhibition.

The show at the former Oggy Oggy Pasty Cafe on Brook Street opened today (Wednesday, August 14) and runs for ten days.

It offers a rare opportunity to see the work of Ron Pyatt, who died two years ago, and was a hugely talented and prolific artist, who showed in major galleries while making his living as an art teacher.

Ron, born in 1947 and originally from Manchester, moved to Tavistock in the 1990s to join the ‘Grimstone Commune’ of artists near Horrabridge.

His work was hugely inspired by Dartmoor and the canvasses depict landscapes in acrylics using rich colours and textures, with very much a spiritual dimension.

The work on show in the pop up gallery, running until August 24, showcases Ron’s talent in canvasses big and small. All work is for sale, with prices kept reasonable in the hope that all the paintings finds new homes. There are also unframed prints.

They had previously been filling Ron’s studio at his home on Old Exeter Road. The exhibition is being staged at the instigation of Ron’s widow and a close friend, Tavistock architect Stephen Whettem.

Roger Croxson, one of the team putting together the exhibition, knew Ron well.

“We wanted to put on the show both out of respect for him and to show his work off and maybe sell some of it,” he said. “We have kept the prices reasonable to make sales although there are one of two reasonably expensive ones. We felt that if we could get the work out there, more people would be able to appreciate it.”

The landscapes are painted in acrylics and are dark with flashes of moonlight illuminating them. Dartmoor and Wales, where he also lived, are very much in the spirit of them. The paintings explore light and dark, night and day and the solid and fluid as well as the changing seasons.

“His work is very spiritual really, but Dartmoor added to that,” said Roger. “There is always a fire and a moon in there.

“I feel very privileged to be involved in setting the show up because it give you more time to look at the paintings.”

Ron’s talent was recognised from his early days as a star pupil at Birmingham Art College and one of the Young Contemporaries at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.

Later he became an art teacher to support his family so his own art took a back seat Happily in later years he was able to take up the brush once more, exhibiting widely and achieving well-deserved recognition.

Locally, he exhibited as part of the Tamar Valley’s Drawn to the Valley exhibition. He also showed at Grimstone Manor.

Ron’s work embraced technology to produce multilayered complex work. He also undertook printmaking and produced composite pieces combining print and the use of paint.

This exhibition of work is at the old Oggy Oggy Pasty Cafe opposite Carters at 3 Brook Street Tavistock until Saturday, August 24 and is open every day from 10 till 5.