UPWEY artist Fiona Robinson opens her latest exhibition, Parallel Lines of Enquiry, at Bridport Arts Centre tomorrow.

The stark, simple and stunning display in a range of media including graphite, pencil, white chalk, charcoal, wax and oil paint, arose from an art fellowship she completed at the Ballinglen Arts Centre in County Mayo, Ireland, two years ago.

Fiona’s paintings are made up of series of lines drawn on canvases in various degrees of thickness and pressure. It was inspired by the coastline around the village where she stayed as well as by the shifting maritime horizon – although some of the more vertical lines could be interpreted as the masts of ships at harbour.

The fellowship in Ireland was something of a return to her roots for Fiona, whose great-great uncle was a member of the local government. The visit also gave Fiona the opportunity to visit and be inspired by one of Ireland’s wildest attractions.

“We got a boat out to Skelligs Rock, which is an outcrop at sea where there used to be a monastery where the monks lived in beehive-shaped dwellings in the 14th century,” she said. “The unstable horizon lines on the way back were a great influence.”

Last year Fiona won the Excellence in Drawing Prize at the Royal West of England Academy.

Her work has been displayed to great acclaim in America and closer to home. She also exhibits at The Art Stable in Child Okeford. Parallel Lines of Enquiry is at the Allsop Gallery, Bridport Arts centre from tomorrow until March 25 during venue opening hours. Some of the most important names in traditional Irish music come to Dorset this weekend in the guise of The Heartstring Quartet.

Legendary guitarist Arty McGlynn, who has played with Van Morrison, Planxty, Patrick Street, De Danann, is joined by virtuoso fiddler Nollaig Casey (Planxty and Coolfin), brilliant and innovative harper Maire Ni Chathasaigh and Britain’s finest flat-picking guitarist Chris Newman.

Catch them in Portesham village hall tomorrow at 8pm (call 01305 871925 for tickets and details) and Studland village hall on Sunday at 7.30pm (call 01929 450204).

Tickets are £12 plus concessions.

The St Edmund Players in Weymouth are on stage from today until Sunday with Red Riding Hood, which promises a feast of fabulous fun for all ages.

Performances are at 7.30pm today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm tomorrow and 2.30pm on Sunday.

Tickets are £5.50 for adults, £3.50 for children, available from 01305 813528. The show is at St Edmund’s Hall, Lanehouse Rocks Road, Weymouth.