Saltburn Pier (Watercolour)

The Gallery in Masham is mounting an exhibition entitled The Edge of the World which opens with a preview on July 20th. The exhibition's title is taken from a remarkable film set on a remote Scottish island: The Edge of the World. (More about the film below).

Looking From The Yorkshire Border (Mixed Media)
Middlesmoor (Watercolour)

The exhibition will feature by some terrific artists: Catherine Sutcliffe-Fuller, Heather Gatt, Pamela Knight, Winifred Hodge, Gareth Buxton, Lesley Birch and myself.
 
The concept of "the edge" can mean so many things. The more I thought about it the more I realised that I would have to make some careful choices in exploring the subject. In the end I painted a serious of works which relate to the theme in different ways.
 
Two pictures: Looking From the Yorkshire Border and Saltburn Pier take Yorkshire as my world and show the views looking from the pass which leads from Cumbria into Swaledale and, far to the East, the end of Yorkshire where Saltburn pier dips its toes in the water.

Lindisfarne (Watercolour)
Lindisfarne (Screen Print)

The images of Lindisfarne and Bamburgh refer both to life on the edge of England but also to where the worlds of the Celtic saints and the Vikings first met. Middlesmoor Church is on a hill, high at the head of Nidderdale, standing in an ancient sacred place where, in the Dark Ages, the edge of earth met the edge of heaven.

Skye from Sanna (Screen Print)

Skye from Sanna and The Lightouse, Ardnamurchan are both paintings from Ardnamurchan in Argyllshire, the most westerly part of the British mainland. Here a long finger of land reaches out, over the isle of Mull, towards the Hebrides. It’s the edge of Scotland and it feels like the edge of another world.
 

Bamburgh (Watercolour)
 
The Edge of the World is at:
The Gallery, 24, Market Place, Masham,  North Yorkshire. HG4 4EB
www.mashamgallery.co.uk
 
There is a preview on July 20th at 7.30 pm. Come and join us for a glass of wine if you can.

The exhibition runs from  21st July to 31st August
The Gallery opening hours are:
Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 1pm - 5pm
Monday - Closed

My interest in the details goes back a long way. I can remember when I was very small losing myself in the patterns on my Aunt Belle’s china, looking at the cast iron coal hole covers on the pavement, following the swirls in the paisley carpet designs. 

Along with the smell of damp and the dust motes floating in the air the things I remember best from the long hours in church were the carvings on the medieval screen, the worn encaustic tiles on the chancel floor and the graffiti bitten deep into the choir stalls by previous generations of the bored. Of the interminable sermons not a word ever stayed with me.

I spend a lot of time drawing and painting buildings. I usually start by getting to know the silhouette but it’s the details that draw me in.

Looking back through my photo files I’m amazed by how many times I seem to click the shutter on something small, but amazing. Here is just a small selection.

The next art course I'm teaching at Artison is:

A Contemporary Approach to Watercolour

Friday, 18th May 2012   Price: £65.00





Watercolour frequently suffers from an undeserved reputation as a pale, washed out medium. Contemporary watercolour artists, however, are exploring vibrant new ways of creating results rich in colour and texture and this course looks at some easy ways to take these ideas into your work. By the end of the course will be able to:

- Mix and use watercolour in a variety of ways
- Incorporate different media for different effects
- Plan paintings which move away from traditional styles
- Develop an awareness of directions in contemporary watercolour

To book CLICK HERE

Fountains Abbey, 
Late Evening
Watercolour
Framed Size: 28" x 21"

Currently on sale at 
The Gallery, Masham


To enquire about this painting CLICK HERE

To visit the NEW Gallery website CLICK HERE