Hiking over the Widdings Moor, I came across this vista which made the hairs on the back of my hand stand rigid and my spine tingle. I knew immediately that I had to capture this moment – the moor in all its glory.
This view depicts to my mind, everything of Yorkshire: farms clinging to the moorland uplands, verdant valleys, stone walls traversing the moor making a lovely patch work of the landscape, dead trees tracing lace patterns against the sky, and electricity poles, emblems of the modern age.
The Yorkshire Moors are a challenge to any artist. To my mind their character is harder to register than the mountain areas of Scotland and Wales. Mountains are pyramids and if you think like this they become easy to paint, for they offer a ready made perspective and instant depth. But the Yorkshire moorlands in particular Widdop, are high but set at slight angles. The challenge is to make then appear to lie down, a task which sets my adrenalin flowing.
It is with mutual respect that the National Trust has become a partner in “Framing the landscape” for we share the same passion and protection for a landscape that is our children’s heritage.
Thanks are also due to Walker Morris with whom I have a longstanding relationship built on 20 years of the Walker Morris Calendar Competition, of which I have had the pleasure of been a judge. Their commitment to encouraging art in schools of Yorkshire and the Humber is admirable. They have chosen to celebrate the 20th Anniversary by sponsoring ‘Framing the Landscape’
The University of Huddersfield has been influential in the creation of the freestanding easels assisting with the design of the frame, prototype and construction of the full scale frames; their assistance in this has been invaluable.
