A STRIKING selection of paintings, drawings, sculptures and photography is on show at Otley Courthouse

The quality of the pieces on display is such that visitors could be forgiven for thinking they are the work of professional artists.

Instead, they have been produced by Sixth Form Art students at Prince Henry’s Grammar School as part of their course work for A Level.

The exhibits include works - in a variety of mediums including acrylics and batik - that explore issues of identity, inequality, and different perspectives.

There are also abstract and portrait paintings and images that touch on gender issues and celebrate female empowerment.

Lucy Mapplebeck-Newman’s painting, showing a man festooned with painted and actual flowers, is one of four on show above the Courthouse’s reception desk.

Dubbed Ophilio - a male take on Shakespeare’s female character of Ophelia in his tragedy Hamlet - it was inspired by Lucy’s father.

Abbie Bowes’ monochrome depiction of a homeless woman also has a 3D feature, and shows real coins flowing in (or out of) the lady’s begging cup.

The ‘homeless woman’ was actually modelled on her fellow student and artist Maia Pennington, whose own painting - of a face containing many faces - is also on display in the Courthouse’s entrance area.

Lily Major, meanwhile, used acrylics - painted over with PVA to create a watery effect - for her take on MC Escher’s famous The Drowned Cathedral.

Head of Art at Prince Henry’s, Shane Green, said he was proud of what the students had produced which was a culmination of their A Level course work.

He said: “A large number of students, 11 out of 30, are going on to Leeds Arts University and other creative courses at university.”