Peter Symonds
8-23 October 2022
Peter Symonds is without doubt one of the leading landscape artists of his generation. Described as ‘unmatched’ by no less than David Shepherd, it really doesn’t require much effort to see why. His beautiful oil paintings with their characteristic softness and gentle light are a timeless reminder of everything a landscape painting can and should be, a seemingly effortless standard that many other artists can only ever aspire to.
Beckstones has been exhibiting Peter’s work since 1999 and we are very fortunate to be located in an area that Peter loves with a passion. All his Lake District landscape paintings have passed through Beckstones and over the years it has been a delight to see them first hand. We have been looking forward to unveiling this latest collection for some time and as always we are not disappointed, they are quite splendid. Whether painting the jaw dropping splendour of the Lake District fells or the gentle rolling valleys, lakes and rivers, Peter has an innate ability to convey an emotional response to the viewer giving them the sensation of being there themselves - feeling the warmth of the sun or hearing the trickle of the stream and it is this that fuels our customers’ love affair with his work.
Peter paints in oils on canvas and his distinctive landscapes with their muted palate create mood and atmosphere with his mastery of tone and light. His choice of composition is a product of endless days walking in his beloved Lake District looking for that elusive vista with all the ingredients he requires. The resulting painting is then often brought to life with the inclusion of distant sheep, a solitary walker or the subtlest wisp of smoke coming from a cottage chimney - all strokes of artistic genius.
Born in 1964 Peter has enjoyed a glittering career as an artist for more than 25 years. His sell-out one man shows are always hotly anticipated and demand always exceeds supply. Peter lives in Surrey with his wife and has two grown-up children. When not painting in his studio, Peter loves to cycle, walk and play golf when time allows.
It is an obvious given that the Lake District is exceptionally beautiful, possessing an inherent quality that has it high on the list of the world’s must-see destinations. What it may lack in sheer grandeur is more than compensated for by its soul or character, a particular charm that is so obvious to any visitor. It could therefore be assumed that it must be a very easy place to paint or photograph, especially given the large numbers of pictorial books, paintings and prints that are inspired by the Lake District. When I first started to paint here, I would glean the book shops and galleries searching for ideas on where to go but often came away feeling empty and uninspired. Because of its extraordinary beauty, any depiction of the Lakes can so easily fall into the
category of being ’chocolate-boxy’ and I knew I had to avoid this at all costs. To counter this I had a two-part strategy - firstly, I would walk the area inside out and find my own scenes, and secondly I would concentrate on times of day and weather conditions where atmosphere was as important as the location. Niki and Karen will now sometimes tell me on the phone that it is a ‘Peter Symonds’ day when there is broken cloud cover with intermittent sunny intervals. These are undoubtedly my favourite conditions, but even on duller or blue-sky days, atmosphere can be found by being out very early or late, or by facing into the light. This is one of the true joys of painting the landscape in our country, particularly here in the Lake District, as the weather conditions are constantly different and therefore I could never grow bored of interpreting it. Despite the complications of getting up here in the past few years, this amazing landscape has kept me as inspired as ever, and whenever I have to wrench myself away, I am soon dreaming of a return visit. In fact I now spend so much of my time immersed in portraying it that I can often feel I am never far away from here anyway - that is until I step out of my studio!
1. The old oak, Crummock Water 8 x 12 inches
2. Crinkle Crags and Bowfell, Great Langdale14 x 24 inches
I painted a similar view to this a few years ago when the trees still had their foliage but was arrested here by how different it looked in winter. As ever the sky provided the atmosphere here, but the stately trees and the glorious panorama over this beautiful lake provided an exceptional composition.
3. Ullswater from Glencoyne Park4.
Spring, Rydal Water
12 x 22 inches
Before I had parked my car at Rydal, I had noticed there was a dark, steely sky overhead with large patches of blue sky approaching from the south. Just as I like it! With my laden rucksack swinging wildly on my back, I ran most of the way as the blue sky increasingly pushed the clouds to the north. For a short while I was very fortunate to witness the dark grey of the sky reflected into the water below creating a superb foil to the sunlit landscape surrounding it.
5. River Brathay near Elterwater 10 x 12 inches
The walk from Skelwith Force to Elterwater along the banks of the beautiful River Brathay is a perennial favourite amongst walkers, and I guess I must have included a painting from somewhere along it with almost every exhibition I have held at Beckstones in recent years!
6. Winter, Blea Tarn House 10 x 14 inches
Together with a scene of Grange in Borrowdale, this viewpoint was the subject of my first painting to go into print many years ago. Wordsworth was also inspired by the location as this old farmhouse is thought to be the ‘one bare dwelling’ mentioned in his poem ‘The Solitary’. Its solitude was accentuated on this particularly cold winter’s day, especially with the dark sky to the west threatening another fall of snow.
7. Scots Pines above Seatoller, Upper Borrowdale
20 x 32 inches
As the years go by, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find paths within the main areas of the Lake District that I have yet to walk. Often when it is raining or heavily clouded I will take long walks in more unfamiliar ground always with the intention of finding a new scene to paint. I discovered this superb view one evening, and knowing the following day was set fair made a repeat visit. It took a little while for the sun to appear but I was incredibly excited when it eventually lit up these magnificent Scots pines, which made a superb focal point, before allowing ones eyes to travel up the Seathwaite Valley to the distant fells beyond.
8. Fleetwith Pike from Buttermere
13 x 32 inches
This stunning little lake is towards the fringes of the Lake District and is usually approached over two magnificent passes - Newlands Hause and Honister Pass. These routes certainly help whet the appetite for enjoying this most loved lake. One of the privileges of painting this beautiful corner of our country is finding quite exceptional vistas such as this! It would be almost impossible to conjure up a superlative view like this in one’s mind.
9. Early evening, the shores of Bassenthwaite 8 x 12 inches
10. The Langdale Pikes, Autumn 8 x 12 inches
11. March, Grange in Borrowdale
11 x 18 inches
This is the viewpoint that was the springboard to making mountainous scenery the main focus for my painting life for over 30 years now. It is amazing how much this viewpoint has changed over the years. Trees have grown and others fallen on the left bank particularly, and some of the cottages behind the bridge are now mostly hidden. With the great deluge of water that can flow down the Derwent from the mountain ranges to the south, the gravel banks are constantly shifting too. However, it will always be to me the quintessential Lakeland scene whatever the changes that come.
12. In the Jaws of Borrowdale 11 x 16 inches
There is a wonderful walk between Grange in Borrowdale and Rosthwaite, where the path broadly follows the course of the River Derwent. At its narrowest point, the crags of Nitting Haws rise up sharply to the west, giving rise to the wonderful name of this section of the river. There are lovely viewpoints in several directions here and it is a place I love to return to whenever I can.
13. Autumn, Blea Tarn and the Langdale Pikes
18 x 24 inches
I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours on this warm autumn afternoon observing the play of light over the superb landscape. It can be incredibly difficult deciding how to depict a scene on a day like this when the whole landscape changes dramatically every few minutes. For much of the time the Langdale Pikes were in deep shadow with the hills in the middle ground lit up, which created a really dramatic effect. However, when the sun fell on these iconic fells, sandwiched between the dark base of the cloud and the now shadowy middle ground, I felt it created a more pleasing effect.
There is something particularly magical about seeing a very familiar location utterly transformed when seen under a carpet of snow, especially when viewed on a clear sunny day. I know this scene so well, and though the snow only lingered on the fells it looked and felt completely different.
Nearly 40 years ago, I had the great privilege of receiving a number of lessons from the great wildlife painter, David Shepherd, who was a close friend of the family and the principal reason why I took up my profession. He gave me much invaluable advice, amongst which was to get the composition right as early as possible as it can be incredibly difficult to make major structural changes once the painting is well underway. Usually I will make many often minor tweaks to the design until the scene has a pleasing balance, but this is one of the great Lakeland views where there is barely a need to. It is obviously a complex composition and though with any painting there has to be a great deal of simplification, with so many points of interest involved here, I knew this had to be painted on a large scale.
14. Langdale Pikes from Millbeck15. Borrowdale from the path to Watendlath 8 x 12 inches
17. Hayeswater Gill above Hartsop 10 x 12 inches
I can never resist visiting this place when driving south from Ullswater. I love to have another go at a scene I have painted before as it is never the same – particularly up here in the Lake District!
18. Fishing on the Brathay near Skelwith Bridge 8 x 12 inches
19. Cold day, Grisedale 16 x 24 inches
For many years we used to rent an old, isolated farmhouse in this beautiful valley and got to know the area really well. This is a favourite view from close to Lanty’s Tarn on the path over to Glenridding. It was a cold, clear day with a hard frost in the valley and was a joy to paint, particularly the snowy peaks of St Sunday Crag and Dollywagon Pike
This lovely valley is less known than its greater neighbour to the north, partly due to there being so few places to park one’s car. Many pass through it on the way down from Blea Tarn or when heading over to Wrynose Pass, but there are never large numbers of walkers here.
Most landscape painters love to paint the snow and though it only lingered on the fells on this sunny February day, I thoroughly enjoyed painting the cool blue shadows and contrasting them with the sunlit areas. With a bright blue sky directly above casting its colour onto the beck too, I knew I was witnessing this beautiful valley at its absolute best.
20. February, Little
18 x 24 inches
Langdale 21. Little Langdale from Slater’s Bridge 8 x 12 inches22. Ullswater from above Sandwick 8 x 12 inches
23. Autumn, Langstrath 20 x 30 inches
There is no point in me waxing lyrical yet again about the Langstrath valley as I really hope the painting may be able to do some sort of justice to it instead! What was particularly rewarding however in this painting was attempting to harmonise the subtle tones and warm hues of the valley at the height of autumn.
The works illustrated are available for sale prior to the exhibition immediately on receipt of this catalogue.
To check availability and place orders:
• telephone 01768 483601 • visit the gallery in person • email enquiries@beckstonesartgallery.co.uk
All paintings are oil on canvas. Sizes shown are in inches and give the dimensions of the actual image excluding the frame. The exhibition runs from 10am on 8 October to 5pm Sun 23 October 2022. The full catalogue can also be viewed nearer the date online at beckstonesartgallery.co.uk
“ ” PETER SYMONDS
To be amongst the visually stunning, high and wild places of the world, with all the drama that the elements can sometimes throw at you, is to feel truly alive, and that is why I paint them. It is almost a compulsion. I believe a landscape painter has to have a sense of wonder, awe and humility before nature, so every painting I create is born out of a strong desire to interpret and then share what I feel when I am in such places.
We regret that paintings cannot be held on reserve for approval. Please note that paintings are available to purchase immediately Tennant Design –Tel. 01228 514668
Beckstones Art Gallery · Greystoke Ghyll, Nr. Penrith, Cumbria CA11 0UQ · Tel: 01768 483601 beckstonesartgallery.co.uk