Greenstage Gallery's Summer show which runs until Sunday, September 1, features work by Brian Denington, Chris Howells and Kathryn Sassall, many of whose cycling paintings are based on the Tour de France.

Brian Denington was born in 1944 in Glastonbury, and studied fine art and illustration at the South East Essex School of Art from 1961 to 1966. After leaving college he worked for some time as a graphic designer in a London design studio before turning his interests towards figurative illustration and portraiture. Since moving to France he has placed less emphasis on portraiture, and concentrated almost entirely on his figure work. There is now a considerable demand for his nudes and figure studies, and he regularly shows and sells his work in London, Belfast, Dublin and Paris. He exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and his commissions were many and varied, including family and corporate portraits, and Elvis Presley and George Melly for CD albums to oil and water colour portraits of Sir John Barbirolli for his widow Lady Evelyn Barbirolli. He was also engaged as resident artist during the Irish general election campaign in 2002.

The late Chris Howells studied Graphic Design at Stourbridge College of Art and Design and was employed as a graphic designer until becoming a full time artist 30 years ago. He was widely known for his traditional rural landscapes and paintings of horses, and when he moved to Malvern he was developing new ideas for still-life paintings. Although based on traditional techniques the inspiration came with a desire to evolve and push the boundaries of still-life painting. The paintings progress from one work to another as if on a journey without a known destination or end. He hoped that the paintings were not only thought provoking, but fun. He once said that "it is difficult to live in Malvern and not be inspired by the hills", a subject that he found both exciting and challenging. “The vibrant palette which he used was what attracted me to his paintings," says Will Pudge, owner of Greenstage Gallery. "I felt the colour was particularly evocative of the way the Malvern Hills makes people who have lived in their shadow feel, that uplifting feeling of history, place and home."

Kathryn Sassall is a Herefordshire based artist, whose work captures the emotions, movement and power of different types of racing. She uses bold free flowing brush strokes to bring the viewer into the thick of the action. "I paint on canvas and paper to create expressive paintings of noise to unlock excitement in the viewer of sport. I may leave something out, adapt the light, highlight a detail but at the end of the day it all comes down to hard observation to satisfy the knowledgable specialists in the sports – participants or fans.

"There is a noise element in all sports. Whether it’s the coaches calling after the cyclists, the rev of an engine or the enthusiasm of a crowd of fans.. I try to capture the intensity of that experience. I’m an artist who likes to try to excite all the senses; to feel the splash of the mud, hear the swish of the bikes, or smell the heat of the horse."

The summer exhibition runs at The Greenstage Gallery in Bishop's Frome until Sunday, September 1. For more information, visit greenstagegallery.co.uk