Residency | Brathay Hall
'At Fairfield Peak'
Ink & Mixed Media
100x100cm
On the 12th of November 'At Fairfield Peak' a painting that i created whilst at Brathay Hall in the Lake District will be in the Brathay Trust fundraising auction. All the money raised for this piece will be donated to the charity. Providing help and support to young people that have had a tough start in life.
More information on Brathay Trust here.
Want to make a bid for the painting but cant make the ball?
Place your maximum bid on the link here: www.brathay.org.uk
Residency at Brathay Hall
On the last week of September I was lucky enough to spend a few days painting in the Brathay Trust workshop. Brathay Hall is just outside of Ambleside at the top of Lake Windermere. It was established to provide personal and social development opportunities for young people. I was invited by the trust to spend a week up in the Lake District and commissioned to do a piece for their auction on the 12th of November.
'At Fairfield Peak' is based on one particular walk that we did one afternoon. I wanted to walk up this particular fell as it is the highest in the groups of hills in the eastern fells. The view at the top was just indescribable. The peak has a fantastic view down lake windermere. On the days running up to the walk the weather had been rather bad with very low visibility, even though at first one would think this would be a problem for someone that is taking inspiration from something visual. However i found that when up on the fells, the weather would come and go, exposing areas of the hills. Saturated oranges and browns and odd textures would appear and disappear. An amazing contrast between textures and colours within the land and sky. The mist would blur the sky to the rich colours and textures of the land.
The day I walked up Fairfield Peak it was the brightest day we had in the Lakes. The sun was shining through clusters of clouds, during our walk we were exposed to the same view but climbing up and walking up the different fells allowed us to view the top of lake windermere but from different perspectives and dramatic heights. As this walk took us about 6hours, the weather changed throughout the day and towards the end of the day my attention was drawn to the fells in the back of the horizon. They would come and go, a blanket of cloud would separate them from the rest of the landscape.
When we arrived in the Lake District back in September I was automatically inspired by the bad weather and the dramatic effect it had on the fells. I was instantly engrossed with the new project and since my experience up there i have had a completely new impulse to paint.
The mist and poor visibility actually lifted my attention to the skies. And in recent work I have been trying to recreate the dramatic effects that weather has on the surrounding environment. The mist would drift over and through the tops of the fells; blurring land and sky together. Light would be interrupted by the clouds and cascade through exposing the saturated colours and textures beneath. The view was constantly changing in a matter of seconds.