Preview: High Places - Images Of Nepal, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York until April 12

The Middlesbrough artist's large and colourful monoprints were inspired by his trek through the Rolwalling Himal in the high mountains of Nepal. "Like many visitors to the Himalaya region, I became interested in the plight of the Tibetans, many of whom live now in exile in Nepal. So I started to support the Free Tibet Campaign, which aims to help Tibetans regain their right to determine their own future," he says.

By chance, gallery co-owner Elaine Brett, also went trekking in the Himalayas in 2004 and, like Derek, she was deeply moved by the landscape and culture of the people she met. Around the same time, Terry Brett, her partner in Pyramid Gallery, spent time experiencing life in a yoga ashram in Rishikesh, in the Himalayan foothills in northern India.

"We returned from our trips with a desire to discover more about the people and their culture and maybe do something practical to help them," Terry says. "When Derek brought his prints into the gallery in September, the idea of an exhibition to help the plight of the Tibetan people seemed a natural thing to do."

Some of Derek's prints incorporate the typeface for the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hom", which translates as "All praise to the Jewel in the Lotus". "Throughout the time I spent in Nepal I always felt that the people and their culture made a major contribution to the landscapes I was privileged to walk amongst. I have tried to echo something of that culture in my more recent prints initially using a wood block that I brought back from Nepal, but following this I started to use something which related to my personal experiences," he says.

On show too are turquoise glazes by London potter Katherine Bramwell-Cole, inspired by her own trips to the Himalayas, and glass by Amanda Lawrence.

The exhibition runs until April 12 at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, and profits from all sales will be donated to the Tibet campaign.

Updated: 15:15 Thursday, March 17, 2005