BASKET-MAKER Paul Tuck left Seavington in 1988 but he has returned to the village of his youth with armfuls of baskets for an exhibition of his craft in the Seavington Community Shop.

After studying at Cannington and working in farming, Paul trained as a basket-maker on the Somerset Levels in 1987. A year later he moved to the edge of Exmoor and began trading as Exmoor Baskets and Hurdles; a business which continues to thrive.

The original aim to produce strong, functional items based on traditional designs remains at the centre of Paul’s work. He always uses good quality white, buff and brown Somerset basket willow which gives both strength and timeless good looks to each basket.

He has a good range of log baskets, washing and shopping baskets as well as waste paper bins and simple round everyday baskets on display at Seavington Community shop.

Accompanying Paul’s work in the shop area are Pauline Rook’s powerful black and white photographs of Somerset country life.

Pauline, who lives just a few miles from the shop in Lopen, has become well-known through-out the region for her portraits of farming life and the Somerset countryside.

Once a farmer herself, Pauline has a strong affinity with her subjects, her farming knowledge enabling her to achieve shots many would find impossible.

Pauline’s latest photographic journey has been about embracing all the possibilities digital photography offers.

A keen gardener, Pauline has been working with flowers she has grown herself, developing digital techniques as different as trying to show flowers in motion, capturing the fragile beauty of white flowers on a white background and producing painterly still-life images. These colourful and beautiful pictures are now exhibited in Seavington’s community café and will be there until the end of October.

The exhibition of Baskets and Flowers will be on display at the Community Shop and Café until the end of October. It is open from 8.30pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday and 9am to 3pm on Saturday. The café closes at 4.30pm in the week and at 2pm on Saturday.