Shelagh Whitehead's exhibition begins with a short film. Soon, the smell of leaves fills the air and the sounds of the woodland are all around as the story of the big, bad Wolfie unfolds.

Shelagh's mum dressed as Little Red Riding Hood for the part and Shelagh got to grips with her subject by coming into college dressed a wolf.

"People can read into this what they want," she says, laughing. "I don't really want to make up their minds for them. But I wanted to explore the imaginative side of people really because this is something we often lose as we get older.

"I did come into college one day in a wolf suit just to see what the reaction would be like. I didn't smile all day, went to lectures and just observed people's reactions. It was very interesting."

And this is just one of many student artworks on show at the college.
Sue Mitchell's self-portraits are larger than life. And that's just the way she likes them.

"I have always painted portraits but they were very figurative at one time, almost photographic.

"But then I decided I wanted to be quicker, more immediate. I was labouring far too much over pieces before. Now I think there's more passion in my work," says the 69-year-old from Mytholmroyd.

The result is a striking collection of paintings that reveal different elements to Sue's character.

"I am deliberately setting out to be ambiguous but then I do think everyone has a public and a private side and this is what I'm trying to convey," she says.

Fellow student Linda Taylor, 64, of Rochdale has concentrated on her photography and her end-of-year pieces are based on childhood memories.

"I wanted to look into what we did when we were young, such as going to the park or the cinema, or just hanging around with our friends and sitting on a wall," she says.

"I used to sit on a wall very similar to this while waiting for my dad," she says pointing to one image.

"He was off doing some business and I'd be sitting here patiently waiting, thinking of all sorts of things.

"I have always been interested in photography and began really when my children were young, taking lots of pictures of them. But I have loved this visual arts course because it has really allowed me to develop my skills," says Linda.

Childhood memories have also been rekindled in the moving artwork produced by Annet Dixon, who moved from Holland to the UK and now lives in Todmorden.

The simple black and white etchings are based on a childhood photograph of Annet.

"My work is all about searching for freedom because for me childhood was a time of hurt, pain anger and disappointment," explains Annet who was sexually abused.

"For many years I never spoke about what went on but I decided the time was right and my work here has finally allowed me to tell my story. My art is a kind of therapy for me."

Annet has now applied for the artist-in-residency post at the Todmorden college. "I want to give something back," she says.

Georgina Filby first came to Todmorden College on an access course and has been working for four years on her BA degree.

Her ceramics are "inspired by cycles of nature" and she says that she loves working in three dimensions.

I have looked at the cycles of landscape and how it changes, how elements are gradually eroded away but human loss and particularly the often taboo topic of miscarriage is what I wanted to illustrate," she explains.

She adds that her eye-catching and bold pieces have also been inspired by the work of sculptor Henry Moore and now plans to put the terracotta-coloured structures out into the landscape.

"I want them to go back to nature," she says.

A four-and-a-half hour trek from his home in Rochdale to Todmorden Comm-unity College and hundreds of images snapped along the way has inspired Dave Featherston's collection of simple monochrome sketches.

Dave's exhibition begins with a hospital letter, followed by a short film, set to a pulsing heart-beat track.

"I have hepatitis but I am treating it with traditional Chinese medicine rather than the conventional treatment the hospital is recommending. When I received the letter telling me my condition would worsen if I ignored their advice I was in a bit of a state and decided I needed to clear my head and walk.

"I took hundreds of photographs but I didn't spend time on the composition, I just clicked away.

"When I finally came to look at them, it was the lines and angles of the images that really inspired my painting."