Cheeky girls!

THE jolly, fat ladies have come to town — and raised a smile on visitors’ faces.

The colourful ladies are part of an exclusive exhibition of internationally famous artist Beryl Cooke’s work at Uppermill’s Millyard Gallery.

Original limited edition unframed silk screens, editionised and signed by the artist before she died last year, are on sale with prices ranging from £750 to £5,000.

Joan Frost, who runs the gallery with her husband John and daughter Rebecca, says: “Beryl was a remarkable artist. Her works will make anyone smile, particularly on these winter days.”

Beryl, whose work spanned 30 years, was seen as one of the nation’s great social observers. She had a colourful life and was for a time a show girl and ran a bed and breakfast business.

Her lifelong love affair with painting began she painted the walls of a cottage on returning to England from Zambia.

Now her work is collected all over the world and has even appearing on postage stamps.

The public loved her very British sense of humour — and her cheeky rotund figures. In an interview with the BBC two years before her death she said: “I’m only motivated to paint by people enjoying themselves.”

At a Bonham’s sale last autumn, her paintings reached three times their estimate. Collectors are investing in her work of original limited edition silk-screens and are on display at the gallery, in The Square, Uppermill, until Wednesday.