Winter

from Lawrence Quigley - Coast to Coast

Summer

The first signs of Winter were apparent when snow enveloped the landscape in the Ribblesdale Valley on the border of North Yorkshire and Lancashire in December 2021.

I was heading for the famous Ribblehead Viaduct, but strong winds which had brought the snow had also blown over several trees, which blocked the roads on my way. So I painted some views around where my journey was halted – around the Settle area – and painted up on the sides of the snowy hills, surrounded by some very hardy sheep.

I also visited Staithes on the East coast, as well as Ambleside in the Lakes, and Kirkby Stephen and Reeth on the Pennines.

Staithes was quite a beautiful throwback in time, with butchers, bakers and candlestickmakers all walking around the tiny cobbled streets covered in the spoils of their profession. So I felt quite at home as a messy artist, covered in oil paint from head to toe, carrying bags of paints and an easel.

Storm Erica erupted when I was in Reeth but I was determined to work and not be beaten by the weather – after all, it is a part of our landscape! So, I managed to find a sheltered spot against the wind on one side of an old ruined shepherd’s hut.

It excited me how many beautiful greys there are in the Winter months, and, only having a certain amount of daylight hours to work in, I tended to work quite quickly and without inhibition. Ribblehead Viaduct was a bleak experience: a combination of freezing pouring rain and being endlessly photographed by Japanese tourists.