As the North Yorkshire Open Studios season starts on 11 June, we asked artist Clothylde Vergnes to talk about her work and the event.

Along with over 100 artists, Clothylde Vergnes has been selected and will open the doors of her studio in Egton Bridge. Clothylde has been living and painting in the Whitby area for over 30 years, but since moving to Egton Bridge, she has concentrated on her immediate surroundings. This is exemplified by her painting My World, an idiosyncratic interpretation of her environment with her home in the centre of the picture, surrounded by Glaisdale, Egton, Whitby, Grosmont and the moors.

Her work is representational and ranges from landscapes to paintings of trees in the snow, which was wonderful this winter, to accurate botanical studies of the flowers in her garden. Also available to view will be her Grief and Regrowth series, a blend of narrative and landscape paintings which traces in paint her experience of loss and her renewed passion for image making.
 
'The Open Studios event is a wonderful idea, and it works both ways. It is a chance for the public to see where and how artists work and ask questions on practice and inspiration. It is also a chance for the artists to meet the public and get feedback on their work.

'Like many other artists, I work from home and sell through galleries. Sales are of course welcome, and proof that some people like my images, but I often wonder who buys my work. Sometimes my inspiration is drawn from inner landscapes, but most of it comes from nature, those majestic moors, a farm nestling on a hillside, a spring flower in my garden. I feel that I do not go out to look for them, but rather that they call to me to be painted.

'My favourite medium is oil paint, for I like the depth of colour, but I also enjoy the fragility of watercolours, and have found a renewed interest for pastels, mostly for portraits. I often work from a black background, liking to draw colours from black, as light from the dark, joy from sadness. I like the ambivalence of black. It is the colour of mourning, the void, but I also see it as a multiplicity of black lines, giving the artist infinite possibilities.

'Each painting can take weeks, or sometimes months, and then disappears from my life… The Open Studios, in which I have taken part since 2005, is a great opportunity to hear what people think. I once had a visit from a couple who had bought one of my pictures 15 years previously, and was thrilled to know that it still had pride of place on their dining room wall. Living in a rather secluded way, the thought of opening my home to the public is a bit daunting, but I have found visitors very polite, and their compliments are a great source of morale boosting. I am sure some do not like my work, but I assume they prefer not to comment!'

Details of all artists taking part are available on www.nyos .org.uk