SIXTEEN days of visual arts celebration, exploring the galleries, studios and arts centres of Dorset, begins with the return of the biennial Dorset Art Weeks, this year from 23rd May to 7th June. More than 290 venues, from Highcliffe to Monkton Wykd, will have work by painters, potters, printmakers, photographers, sculptors, textile artists, makers and designers.

The centrepiece this year is the festival commission, Flow, created by artist Debbie Lee, in the Threshing Barn at Bere Marsh Farm, Shillingstone. The DAW project has been developed in partnership with the Countryside Regeneration Trust, which owns Bere Marsh Farm, and is supported by main sponsor Hall & Woodhouse.

Natterjack toads, ghosts, and a grandfather clock saved from a flood are among the stories that Debbie has gathered along the Stour. Her work explores the river, not only as a living system but also as a carrier of stories.

She walked the riverbank, talking to people, gathering stories, watching wildlife and recording observations along the way. Her new work combines drawing, painting, mapping, writing and sound. The exhibition brings together large-scale river maps, concertina sketchbooks and sensory field notes, which invite visitors to slow down and experience the river.

She says: “The Stour is a hidden gem, and the Stour Valley Way makes many of its secrets accessible. I visited many mills, churches and weirs along its flow and was struck by the abundance of bird life and nature as it winds its way through towns and villages. The river holds its own unique stories which people have shared with me as I’ve walked along.

“There are stories of the wildlife which lives along the banks and in the water, and there are some amazing human stories which link the river to the people who visit or live nearby. I wanted to listen to the river, to map it emotionally and geographically through my art, and to share that experience with others.

“I’ve met all sorts of interesting people on my walks. One woman told me how she’d rescued a grandfather clock from a flood, while someone else had helped an otter trapped in a net. The river has an amazing power to hold memories, sustain wildlife and improve our wellbeing.”

At 61 miles long, the Stour is Dorset’s largest river, rising at Six Wells Valley at Stourhead in Wiltshire, flowing through the Blackmore Vale, then cutting through the chalk ridge of the Dorset Downs at Blandford Forum before eventually reaching Christchurch Harbour and the English Channel.

The exhibition will include a large (152x101cm) oil painting and a drawing of the narrative flow of imagery for the River Stour, as well as 12 framed monoprints. A projected two-minute animated drawing will be shown alongside the 33×294 cm scroll drawing used to make the animation.

In the middle of the Threshing Barn, there will be a two-metre display of river studies and hand painted maps showing the artist’s research – walking, drawing and collecting stories about the River Stour.

There will also be a poetry corner with poems inspired by the river which people have shared during the project, with a space for visitors to leave their own writing or add illustrations to river maps.

Here are a few other highlights. For maps, details of participating artists and venues, visit the Dorset Art Weeks website, or pick up a full colour brochure at libraries, tourist offices, galleries etc.

Painter Rachel Sargent will be opening her studio at Gold Hill Organic Farm, Child Okeford, showing some of her atmospheric and beautiful paintings of the local landscape. Pictured is her painting of a typical Dorset Holloway. Rachel will also be taking part in the Abbotsbury Festival of Landscape Art on Sunday 14th June.

Equestrian artist Katie Scorgie will be showing landscapes and other recent paintings, including this charming study of sleeping hounds, at her studio, The Forge, Hinton St Mary.

Anne Hitchcock’s gallery at The Slade Centre in The Square, at the heart of Gillingham’s conservation area, will feature work by Group 7 – Brian Bishop, Martyn Brewster, Bonnie Brown, Michelle Griffiths, Ursula Leach, Stephen Powell and Peter Symons. Pictured is Pink Path, by Ursula Leach.

Wiltshire artists Nick Andrew, noted for his paintings of the local chalk streams, and wildlife painter Tanya Hinton, are exhibiting with jewellery designer Liz Tyler at Shaftesbury Arts Centre.

Arborealist Gary Cook will be showing recent paintings focusing on trees at his studio in French Mill Lane, Shaftesbury. Gary also has a solo exhibition, Through the Seasons, as part of his residency at Thyme in the Cotswolds. The works on show were all painted in the restored water meadows of the river Leach. The exhibition runs until October.