THE rarely-seen sketchbooks by one of County Durham’s best-loved pitman artists have gone on display.

A huge number of Norman Cornish’s sketches, loose drawings and finished pieces can be seen in the new exhibition at Durham’s Palace Green Library.

Mr Cornish’s studio, at his home in Spennymoor, contained 269 sketchbooks containing hundreds of images and drawings.

Some of the 50 sketchbooks and loose drawings also link directly to paintings featured in the exhibition, showing the progression from an initial observation through a series of steps to a finished work.

Mr Cornish, who died in 2014, worked as a miner for 33 years before becoming a full-time artist in 1966.

His artworks documenting life in the county’s pit villages are both critically acclaimed and hugely popular and a series of exhibitions is taking place this year to mark the centenary of his birth.

Before his death, he said he hoped his sketchbooks would “have a life of their own and be of interest to people”.

The exhibition, which focuses on his observations of life, landscapes and family, offering an insight into his personal thoughts and reflections, is open until February 2020.

This weekend, the venue is also hosting poetry workshops inspired by his art.

And next Wednesday, November 27, there will be a sketching pub tour, allowing participants to explore the pub scenes of Durham as Mr Cornish did.

For further details visit www.dur.ac.uk/palace.green.

The exhibition is one of five taking place across County Durham.

One at Greenfield Arts in Newton Aycliffe closes in December while ones at Spennymoor’s Bob Abley Art Gallery, the Mining Art Gallery in Bishop Auckland and the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle will be open into 2020.