- Published on
The North of England is blessed with some wonderful buildings. Here are four which I've portrayed in screen prints and recently had hung at the Masham Gallery.
Left is Ribblehead Viaduct. Condemned and due for demolition in the 1980s, a conservation group charged British Rail's mind and now the viaduct has a secure future.
From left, below:
The Angel of the North, designed by Anthony Gormley, which welcomes travellers to Tyneside. Occasionally seen wearing a Newcastle United shirt.
Lindisfarne Priory. The first place in Britain to be raided by the Vikings, this Northumberland tidal island regularly tops the polls of the most spiritual places.
Durham Cathedral, seen here towering over the medieval Elvet Bridge. A place of great beauty and, for much of the Middle Ages, the centre for pilgrimage in the North.
If you would like to know more about any of these prints, or wish to make a purchase CLICK HERE to send an email.
Left is Ribblehead Viaduct. Condemned and due for demolition in the 1980s, a conservation group charged British Rail's mind and now the viaduct has a secure future.
From left, below:
The Angel of the North, designed by Anthony Gormley, which welcomes travellers to Tyneside. Occasionally seen wearing a Newcastle United shirt.
Lindisfarne Priory. The first place in Britain to be raided by the Vikings, this Northumberland tidal island regularly tops the polls of the most spiritual places.
Durham Cathedral, seen here towering over the medieval Elvet Bridge. A place of great beauty and, for much of the Middle Ages, the centre for pilgrimage in the North.
If you would like to know more about any of these prints, or wish to make a purchase CLICK HERE to send an email.
- Published on
One of the joys of being a landscape painter is the constant challenge of portraying the sky. Constable famously made gorgeous semi-abstract colour sketches of clouds wherever he went and I think most artists do something similar.
In this era of the digital camera - particularly the phone camera - I suspect that artists like myself are constantly turning their lenses skyward.
To go back to Constable, the great artist once said that the sky was the chief organ of a painting and he was absolutely right. A good sky will tell three-quarters of the story.
On the right is a painting I made last year of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales, near where I live. It's high up in an area where the winds from the North Sea meet up with those from the Irish Sea and the skies are frequently dramatic.
In this era of the digital camera - particularly the phone camera - I suspect that artists like myself are constantly turning their lenses skyward.
To go back to Constable, the great artist once said that the sky was the chief organ of a painting and he was absolutely right. A good sky will tell three-quarters of the story.
On the right is a painting I made last year of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales, near where I live. It's high up in an area where the winds from the North Sea meet up with those from the Irish Sea and the skies are frequently dramatic.
Below are some sky studies taken in the last few weeks. From top left clockwise: a beautiful cloud over Kyrenia harbour and sunset over St. Hilarion Castle - both in Northern Cyprus, a winter moon over the English Lake District and a spectacular sunset near Sedgefield in County Durham.
- Published on
I'm teaching a lot of art courses this year at Artison, near Masham in North Yorkshire.
Here are a few of the ones coming up in the next couple of months. For more go to Artison - CLICK HERE
Why not follow me on Facebook to see what I'm working on. CLICK HERE
Here are a few of the ones coming up in the next couple of months. For more go to Artison - CLICK HERE
Why not follow me on Facebook to see what I'm working on. CLICK HERE
Watercolour Landscapes (4 x 2.5 hour evening sessions)
Dates: 19, 26 March, 16, 23 April 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Whether you are new to using watercolours or you have been using them for ages, this 4 week course will inspire you to use different effects and techniques and experiment with painting landscapes in the medium of watercolour. Over the 4 week course, you will study different approaches to painting, and the course includes a 'homework' project. There will be plenty of one-to-one support available.
To book CLICK HERE
Dates: 19, 26 March, 16, 23 April 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm
Whether you are new to using watercolours or you have been using them for ages, this 4 week course will inspire you to use different effects and techniques and experiment with painting landscapes in the medium of watercolour. Over the 4 week course, you will study different approaches to painting, and the course includes a 'homework' project. There will be plenty of one-to-one support available.
To book CLICK HERE
House Portraiture in Watercolour
Friday, 17th April 2015, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Create a unique portrait of your home or the home of a friend or family member. You will develop your drawing skills by an understanding of the proportions of your house. You will be guided through the process, beginning with an accurate source drawing and progressing to a line and wash final piece.
To book CLICK HERE
Friday, 17th April 2015, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Create a unique portrait of your home or the home of a friend or family member. You will develop your drawing skills by an understanding of the proportions of your house. You will be guided through the process, beginning with an accurate source drawing and progressing to a line and wash final piece.
To book CLICK HERE
Using Gouache Railway Poster Style
Friday, 24th April 2015, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
The railway poster designers of the inter-war years evolved a highly stylized approach to representational painting. This exciting course shows how to create similar results through vibrant colour, strong composition and tonal reduction using gouache.
Learn about opaque watercolour - the tradition medium for poster design. Use gouache to produce flat and textured effects . Understand tonal reduction . Use poster design structures to compose a painting.
To book CLICK HERE
Friday, 24th April 2015, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
The railway poster designers of the inter-war years evolved a highly stylized approach to representational painting. This exciting course shows how to create similar results through vibrant colour, strong composition and tonal reduction using gouache.
Learn about opaque watercolour - the tradition medium for poster design. Use gouache to produce flat and textured effects . Understand tonal reduction . Use poster design structures to compose a painting.
To book CLICK HERE
- Published on
I painted this picture a few years ago when I was working on an exhibition about William Wordsworth for an exhibition at his last home - Rydal Mount, near Ambleside in England's Lake District.
The viewpoint is the spot where William said farewell to his brother John for the last time. Shortly afterwards John's ship foundered and he was drowned. I wanted the painting to convey something of the intensity of feeling that John's death must have brought to William.
This painting is available as a limited edition print from either Masham Gallery or Artfinder.
The viewpoint is the spot where William said farewell to his brother John for the last time. Shortly afterwards John's ship foundered and he was drowned. I wanted the painting to convey something of the intensity of feeling that John's death must have brought to William.
This painting is available as a limited edition print from either Masham Gallery or Artfinder.
- Published on
The Oxo Tower is an amazing London landmark. Originally built as a power station for the Post Office the tower was rebuilt by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company (makers of OXO cubes) in the 1920s to include three illuminated windows which spell out O X O. This was an ingenious ploy by architect Albert Moore to get round a ban on illuminated advertising.
You can see more details about this print, and how to buy it, if you CLICK HERE
You can see more details about this print, and how to buy it, if you CLICK HERE
- Published on
I've made a new screen print of Edinburgh - or Auld Reekie as she is affectionately known. Unusually for me, its quite large - about 28 x 21 inches framed up. I'm really pleased with it. I love Edinburgh's skylines and I wanted to capture the colours of early morning.
If you'd like to know more go to CLICK HERE
or just click the picture
If you'd like to know more go to CLICK HERE
or just click the picture
- Published on
Every two years a remarkable exhibition takes place at Baldersby Park, North Yorkshire, which attracts just about every leading artist in the North. Its on this week. For details CLICK HERE.
Some of my pictures in this years show are below.
Some of my pictures in this years show are below.
- Published on
For many years I'd heard rumours of a great pub with wonderful food near Skipton. The Angel In at Hetton had even featured in that great foodie comedy BBC's The Trip with Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden. So I was very chuffed when, at the end of last year, I had a phone call from Pascal, one of the Angel's directors, with a proposal that we work together.
Pascal and I hit it off pretty much straight away. He'd read my book Tales of the Dales and seemed to like my work very much. Bursting with energy and enthusiasm, he outlined his idea to transform one of the dining rooms with a series of paintings. Well we talked for a bit and a second idea surfaced for a book of stories about the surrounding area with added walks and recipes based on local ingredients. We both thought this seemed like a great concept and, as it happened, turned out to be a very enjoyable project.
What the book reveals is that The Angel (here's a MAP so you can see where it is) is in a landscape rich in legends. Within a few miles there are holy wells which can cure many ills, a palatial almshouse built by the undertaker of the Great Plague and the setting for a spectacular UFO sighting.
To accompany the launch of the book and the redecorated dining room is an exhibition of my paintings. I am the first artist in a programme called Art in the Bar curated by Josie Beszant of the Masham Gallery.
Pascal and I hit it off pretty much straight away. He'd read my book Tales of the Dales and seemed to like my work very much. Bursting with energy and enthusiasm, he outlined his idea to transform one of the dining rooms with a series of paintings. Well we talked for a bit and a second idea surfaced for a book of stories about the surrounding area with added walks and recipes based on local ingredients. We both thought this seemed like a great concept and, as it happened, turned out to be a very enjoyable project.
What the book reveals is that The Angel (here's a MAP so you can see where it is) is in a landscape rich in legends. Within a few miles there are holy wells which can cure many ills, a palatial almshouse built by the undertaker of the Great Plague and the setting for a spectacular UFO sighting.
To accompany the launch of the book and the redecorated dining room is an exhibition of my paintings. I am the first artist in a programme called Art in the Bar curated by Josie Beszant of the Masham Gallery.
Above Hetton watercolour. Available as a limited edition print from The Angel.
CLICK HERE for the Art in the Bar programme.
CLICK HERE if you would like a copy of The Dale of Angels, price £7.99 from The Angel.
CLICK HERE to go to The Angel's website.
CLICK HERE if you would like a copy of The Dale of Angels, price £7.99 from The Angel.
CLICK HERE to go to The Angel's website.
And just to whet your appetite, here's a story from the book:
St Helen’s Well
The Yorkshire Dales are riddled with ancient sacred wells. Sometimes little more than a roadside trickle, sometimes extravagantly ornamented, they mark places which have sometimes been of huge importance but, almost without exception, their time in the limelight has past.
St. Helen’s Well, beside the Eshton to Winterburn road, is a rough, spring-fed pool overhung by trees and bordered by battered railings. (St Helen was the British-born mother of the Roman emperor Constantine.) The pool’s outfall is marked by a low dam, which used to include three stones reputedly from a demolished church at Gargrave. (Or they may have come from a chapel of ease that used to stand beside the well - the pasture is known as Chapel Fields.) The stones were decorated with carved heads but, sadly, some misguided individual decided to liberate them in 2004.
However, the trees are still occasionally hung with ribbons and strips of cloth by visitors and the loss of the carved heads does little to dispel the magic of this spot.
Like St Alkelda’s Well at Middleham the water was known as a cure for sore eyes. A writer in the late nineteenth century also mentions that it had once been a sort of courting custom of the “younger folk” of the district to come to the well on Sunday evenings and drink the waters, mixed with sugar.
St Helen’s Well
The Yorkshire Dales are riddled with ancient sacred wells. Sometimes little more than a roadside trickle, sometimes extravagantly ornamented, they mark places which have sometimes been of huge importance but, almost without exception, their time in the limelight has past.
St. Helen’s Well, beside the Eshton to Winterburn road, is a rough, spring-fed pool overhung by trees and bordered by battered railings. (St Helen was the British-born mother of the Roman emperor Constantine.) The pool’s outfall is marked by a low dam, which used to include three stones reputedly from a demolished church at Gargrave. (Or they may have come from a chapel of ease that used to stand beside the well - the pasture is known as Chapel Fields.) The stones were decorated with carved heads but, sadly, some misguided individual decided to liberate them in 2004.
However, the trees are still occasionally hung with ribbons and strips of cloth by visitors and the loss of the carved heads does little to dispel the magic of this spot.
Like St Alkelda’s Well at Middleham the water was known as a cure for sore eyes. A writer in the late nineteenth century also mentions that it had once been a sort of courting custom of the “younger folk” of the district to come to the well on Sunday evenings and drink the waters, mixed with sugar.
Ladyhill , watercolour. One of the paintings in the current Art in the Bar exhibition.
- Published on
Edinburgh Rooftops
These are two new multi-layered handmade screen prints of Edinburgh which I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. The city was my grandfather's home town and its somewhere I've returned to regularly for many years. Most recently I've been in the city researching locations for my forthcoming Places of Pilgrimage exhibition (more details HERE) when I went to see Greyfriar's Bobby's memorial, where people leave dog toys and sticks for the ghost of the Skye terrier, and the Elephant House Cafe, where J.K. Rowling used to write. (Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall-Smith are also customers).
Scotland's capital is a place of contrasts - sometimes stern and forbidding under grey skies and sometimes bright in the sun. A place of dark deeds - the "Resurection Men" trading corpses - and home to one of the greatest art festivals in the world. A good humoured phrase often associated with "Auld Reekie" is "its all fur coat and nae knickers" which pretty much says it all!
I've captured Edinburgh in two different moods - the brooding and the light hearted - taking the same view of the city or both from Calton Hill. On the skyline is the castle and, in the foreground, the tower of the Balmoral hotel.
These are two new multi-layered handmade screen prints of Edinburgh which I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. The city was my grandfather's home town and its somewhere I've returned to regularly for many years. Most recently I've been in the city researching locations for my forthcoming Places of Pilgrimage exhibition (more details HERE) when I went to see Greyfriar's Bobby's memorial, where people leave dog toys and sticks for the ghost of the Skye terrier, and the Elephant House Cafe, where J.K. Rowling used to write. (Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall-Smith are also customers).
Scotland's capital is a place of contrasts - sometimes stern and forbidding under grey skies and sometimes bright in the sun. A place of dark deeds - the "Resurection Men" trading corpses - and home to one of the greatest art festivals in the world. A good humoured phrase often associated with "Auld Reekie" is "its all fur coat and nae knickers" which pretty much says it all!
I've captured Edinburgh in two different moods - the brooding and the light hearted - taking the same view of the city or both from Calton Hill. On the skyline is the castle and, in the foreground, the tower of the Balmoral hotel.
In the past I have usually worked in a technique known as reduction screen print but, due to the architectural complexities of Edinburgh's gorgeous buildings, I've had to use different screens overlaid on each other. I'm very pleased with the result and I think this may signal a change in my printing style.
Both prints feature on my Artfinder page (CLICK HERE for a visit) and, along with a large selection of my work, at Masham Gallery (CLICK HERE to see their site).
If you'd like to send me any comments on the new prints email me by clicking HERE.
Edinburgh Morning
Both prints feature on my Artfinder page (CLICK HERE for a visit) and, along with a large selection of my work, at Masham Gallery (CLICK HERE to see their site).
If you'd like to send me any comments on the new prints email me by clicking HERE.
Edinburgh Morning
- Published on
When I first came to the Dales I was blown away by the beauty of the landscape. Swaledale and then Wensleydale opened up before me: tiny barns in the corners of green and buttercup fields, clusters of ash trees overhanging rambling stone farmhouses and the ever-present drystone walls. But as we drove from Hawes, through Widdale, something amazing appeared - the Ribblehead Viaduct. This enormous structure effectively bridges the spaces between two of the three peaks when approached from the East. With Ingleborough to the left and Whernside to the right the vast twenty-four-arched viaduct spans the rough expanse of Batty Moss.
In those days the Settle Carlisle Railway was being threatened with closure and this building was one of the key reasons. Looking closely at the piers I could see that they were being held together with vertically clamped lengths of rail. Prior to its eventual restoration the viaduct was in serious danger of falling into the peat bogs around it.
Fortunately, after much campaigning, the viaduct and the line were saved. Its somewhere I frequently return to , sketchbook in hand, and it never fails to amaze me, even in the kind of weather I've captured in the painting above.
There are all kinds of stories about the area round the viaduct. Here's one from my book Tales of the Dales:
The Gearstones Fairies
When I went down a pothole for the first time it was a brief trip of a few minutes. We walked into a cave called Calf Holes. I remember water flowing over my boots, the daylight disappearing and that once-sniffed-never-forgotton smell of carbide lamps. The stream rippled before us into the dark and I saw it fan out into the depths of the cave as it formed a waterfall.
Later the same day I made my first proper trip underground. I had a helmet but the rest of my gear consisted of a pair of borrowed wellies, a torch and a boiler suit. Despite the wet and the discomfort of crawling and contorting myself I was amazed by the other worldliness of the pothole. Over the next few years I went through some wonderful caves, learned the difference between stalagmites and stalactites (tites come down!) and saw things you couldn’t see anywhere else.
Its not surprising that they are lots of stories to do with potholes, but this tale is very strange. The two men who told it to me promised to write down all the details and email them, but I never heard from them again.
Two cavers, with a passion of caving photography, went to a pothole at Geartsones, high on the plateau where Ribblehead Viaduct stands. They changed into their wetsuits, unpacked their gear and set off.
But once underground they found that, whatever they did, their floodlights and cameras stubbornly refused to work. Finally they gave up trying and just decided to go through the cave for fun, rather than waste the day, so they stashed their gear high above the water level and set off.
Now the cave was fairly full of water but it wasn’t a fast flooder so they weren’t worried about getting trapped. However there was a low duck in the cave where they would have to put their heads underwater briefly to enter the main chamber. They were both experienced and negotiated the duck without a hitch.
When they got into the main cave, however, they immediately felt something strange happening. Around them they could hear, what they could only describe to me as “fairy music” – unearthly sounds ringing and echoing across the deep water in which were standing up to their necks. Simultaneously they felt a gentle, insistent force pushing them back the way they’d come. They were both convinced that someone or something was telling them that they weren’t wanted. Without panic, but puzzled and slightly frightened, they retreated.
The next week one of them returned. After a few sleepless nights he’d convinced himself that he couldn’t let this experience turn him against potholing and he had to face his fear. He went back to the main chamber and – nothing! Everything was calm. Mightily relieved he went home.
But a few weeks later he was back with a school party. The water levels were well down and the visit was exciting for the children but in safe conditions. In the cave he asked a little boy what he thought of the place. The lad paused and then said: “Its great, but I don’t like the people in the rocks.”
If you'd like to buy Tales of the Dales it costs £12 and you can order it by clicking HERE
If you like the painting its available, framed, at £595. CLICK HERE for more details.
In those days the Settle Carlisle Railway was being threatened with closure and this building was one of the key reasons. Looking closely at the piers I could see that they were being held together with vertically clamped lengths of rail. Prior to its eventual restoration the viaduct was in serious danger of falling into the peat bogs around it.
Fortunately, after much campaigning, the viaduct and the line were saved. Its somewhere I frequently return to , sketchbook in hand, and it never fails to amaze me, even in the kind of weather I've captured in the painting above.
There are all kinds of stories about the area round the viaduct. Here's one from my book Tales of the Dales:
The Gearstones Fairies
When I went down a pothole for the first time it was a brief trip of a few minutes. We walked into a cave called Calf Holes. I remember water flowing over my boots, the daylight disappearing and that once-sniffed-never-forgotton smell of carbide lamps. The stream rippled before us into the dark and I saw it fan out into the depths of the cave as it formed a waterfall.
Later the same day I made my first proper trip underground. I had a helmet but the rest of my gear consisted of a pair of borrowed wellies, a torch and a boiler suit. Despite the wet and the discomfort of crawling and contorting myself I was amazed by the other worldliness of the pothole. Over the next few years I went through some wonderful caves, learned the difference between stalagmites and stalactites (tites come down!) and saw things you couldn’t see anywhere else.
Its not surprising that they are lots of stories to do with potholes, but this tale is very strange. The two men who told it to me promised to write down all the details and email them, but I never heard from them again.
Two cavers, with a passion of caving photography, went to a pothole at Geartsones, high on the plateau where Ribblehead Viaduct stands. They changed into their wetsuits, unpacked their gear and set off.
But once underground they found that, whatever they did, their floodlights and cameras stubbornly refused to work. Finally they gave up trying and just decided to go through the cave for fun, rather than waste the day, so they stashed their gear high above the water level and set off.
Now the cave was fairly full of water but it wasn’t a fast flooder so they weren’t worried about getting trapped. However there was a low duck in the cave where they would have to put their heads underwater briefly to enter the main chamber. They were both experienced and negotiated the duck without a hitch.
When they got into the main cave, however, they immediately felt something strange happening. Around them they could hear, what they could only describe to me as “fairy music” – unearthly sounds ringing and echoing across the deep water in which were standing up to their necks. Simultaneously they felt a gentle, insistent force pushing them back the way they’d come. They were both convinced that someone or something was telling them that they weren’t wanted. Without panic, but puzzled and slightly frightened, they retreated.
The next week one of them returned. After a few sleepless nights he’d convinced himself that he couldn’t let this experience turn him against potholing and he had to face his fear. He went back to the main chamber and – nothing! Everything was calm. Mightily relieved he went home.
But a few weeks later he was back with a school party. The water levels were well down and the visit was exciting for the children but in safe conditions. In the cave he asked a little boy what he thought of the place. The lad paused and then said: “Its great, but I don’t like the people in the rocks.”
If you'd like to buy Tales of the Dales it costs £12 and you can order it by clicking HERE
If you like the painting its available, framed, at £595. CLICK HERE for more details.