On this day the weather was unfavourable with horizontal rain wetting you through to the core. Such was the volume of rain that the view was like looking through a soft light that muted the volume of depth,shading and distance. My daughter Claudia and I were the only two people on this road that morning …… suffice to say we rewarded ourselves with a bacon butty and hot tea in the nearby village of Heptonstall.
I believe that painting requires two elements , the skill and the passion of the artist. Whereas you can be taught a craft by a teacher no one can teach you the passion that comes from within.You have to have a relationship with your subject, mine is the Yorkshire Moor or my mistress as I like to call her for her contours are those of the female form and just like a woman she can warm your heart, chill you to the bone or make you cry such is the power of the elements and the atmosphere created.
When I stand upon the moors I cannot paint what I don’t feel thus there are days and weeks when I cannot paint I have to wait until I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and I get a “wow” feeling. Something else has to connect rather than just the visual senses.
I hope that when you look at my paintings you might also feel a connection to imagine the wet marsh land beneath your feet, the impending storm clouds gathering and the wind in your face for this is what I wish to convey through the water colour landscape.
