Jacky Barn

Another fantastic summer’s day and another opportunity to get out and record another part of the countryside, in fact it was probably the zenith in terms of weather for this summer in this part of England. Salaber’s Barn (locally known as Jacky Barn) is a typical stone-built Dales’ Barn just off the Pennine Way track past the Crown Inn, Horton. These stone barns adorn many a landscape painting of the area, but rarely as a study in themselves. I find them incredibly interesting, each Dale seems to have its own style, in terms of layout and this one is typical for North Ribblesdale. The workmanship of some of these barns is simply outstanding, and there are hundreds scattered all over the place, some are in a sorry state of repair. No worries (I thought) about people looking over myshoulder at this one, as I plonked myself down in a fairly empty field, empty that is apart from the sheep.

 "Jacky Barn" 8"x6" Oil on board

I found painting this one fairly easy, and rather enjoyable, and I was completely oblivious to how hot the sun was. This ended in burnt legs and arms, again I learned another (painful) lesson, one which I am bound to repeat… Half-way through the pochade the sound of a quad-bike, cursing and sheep calls broke out. I should have realised that most of these sheep in this field had yet to be shorn, and up rolls Steve with his dogs rounding up the sheep, not an easy task as I know how stupid sheep are, but the dogs set to the work effortlessly. He had a long look at the painting and as it was clearly unfinished he took a breath, and asked if there was any chance I could paint the complete roof, as it was one thing on his long to-do lists… the time of day was passed and he was off on his way. That’s the thing about painting in the open, anyone passing will not be aware of what stage the painting is at and therefore won’t pass comment, and if they do it’s always positive. I implore people to get out and paint, and not to be put off by what others think. I know artists who work predominantly from photos, and I think they are missing a whole part of the spectrum, but yes it does take nerve to ‘perform’.

The sheep in the foreground was just a memory by the time I painted it in, and I think I have done it justice. Overall the pochade took about 2 hours, and to be honest I never felt any time passing.

Pochade - Brant's Ghyll

The 30th June was not a bad day to go off painting, not too hot and only a slight chance of rain, well, that's what I had thought before I set off. I had always wanted to picture Brant's ghyll resurgence ever since I had first seen it, but because it is what it is, a small cave and a spring at the foot of a small limestone cliff, it is therefore a fairly boring subject matter, the difficulty here was to at least attempt to make it interesting, a feat of which I have to admit I have failed. I have visited Brant's Ghyll on a number of times in conditions as varied as snow to searing heat, but whatever the condition, it would seem that the light never affects this place. I find the site of huge interest as a geologist, a natural spring at the foot of a massive limestone block, at the junction where the limestone meets the more impermeable slates and flagstones of the Horton group of rocks, and as water cannot pass through, makes an exit along this spring line. The reservoir for this water is deep under the Pen-y-ghent massif, in the speilogically-elusive master cave. I heard a story that at one point for a long time this spring never flowed, and this was a dry valley, but during one deluge, something changed in the internal organs of the cave system, and Brant's ghyll flowed again. It is a place of solitude, not many people know about it and is often overlooked as people tend to bypass it on their way up the well-worn tracks along the pennine way or up pen-y-ghent.

Getting to the place where I wanted to sit, in the valley bottom, was another challenge, half-walking half-sliding down a muddy slope, and ending in a heap on a rocky outcrop inches away from a good ducking in the stream itself. Having set up on the other side of the stream a rough sketch was made in pencil which placed the general composition, incidentally I had visited the place often before and had decided on the composition from those trips, so the hard part was over, and now I thought the easy part was to slap the paint on the board. I had assumed this would be the simple bit, but the weather had plans of its own, a series of showers brought work to a halt while I sought shelter upslope among the trees, this would have been fine if I had been using say Acrylics, but with water-soluble oils it is a different story...

Brant's Ghyll Resurgence 8"x6" Oil on board



What would have normally taken about an hour and a half to paint was finished in 3 hours, with several (long) paues while rain stopped play. I think for a larger painting more mood has to be employed, maybe more regression with mist around the cave enterance. It does feel a mystical, magical place as all of these natural springs do, and if I am going to paint it 'properly' that is the feeling I would like to achieve. I'm not saying I am not satisfied with the pochade as it is, but that's what it is - a sketch for something bigger and more profound. I know people would say 'why not just take a photo', a photo is all well and good, but it does not serve as an accurate aide memoire for the bigger picture, and this is the main thing I have been understanding in my forays outside with my little pochade box.

My little pochade box.

Along the Ribble Way

The Ribble Way is a 'medium-distance path' that follows the course of the Ribble (surprise suprise) from its headwaters at Ribblehead to beyond Preston where it enters the Irish Sea. Another glorious day, one of three we had this summer! and another pochade was the basis of inspiration for this one (the 29th June), I had to force myself out to get the pochade done, and choosing the spot was probably the hardest part. I was thinking about the woods in the distance, but at this time of year the floor of the woods was just green, the bluebells had gone to seed and the ramsons not yet flowering, thus it would have been a fairly dull image although one I will certainly bear in mind for the future.

 Ribble Way Pochade 8"x6" Oil on Canvas board

There is a lovely walk around Horton, known as 'the circuit' of which this image is part of, the route takes you along the road from the Crown, past the Lion, down Chapel Lane, through several fields, across the Tay Bridge, and follows the river back to the Crown. This little walk is only 2 miles long and is a pleasurable stroll. This scene is part of that stroll, near a local spot known as 'parson's pool', although the river itself cannot be seen in the image I have tried to imply its course to the left and behind the trees in the middle.

Just to the left of the picture (not seen) is a buttress of the old 'Tay' bridge which was washed away some years ago, the footbridge was replaced further downstream in 1993, beyond the middle-distance trees. It is a cracking place to sit and watch the world go by, as long as you can put up with the midges, which is why I showered myself in Avon's skin-so-soft before leaving the house. Of all the midge / mosquito repellents on the market I have found this to be, without a doubt, the most effective. So smelling like a boudoir I set to work on the pochade, I won't go into details but it was completed within about 1 1/2 hours. Having done the pochade I knew how a full-sized painting would be formulated, and what to avoid, how to improve and what bits to miss out.

"Along the Ribble Way" 14" x 10" Oil on canvas board.

With this in hand I set about the full sized job, and as I mentioned was a pleasure to paint as I knew what colours to mix, where to slap them on, and basically how to put together the jigsaw of the painting. Ok I might have emphasised some bits (the sky is never THAT interesting), and thrown in a rambler, but pretty much true to the sketch. A number of walkers were making use of what little summer we had and while I was painting the pochade a number passed me by, so in the finished article the rambler was thrown in more of an afterthought to give some life to the painting. The finished article was framed and presented to my brother in law for his sixtieth, and mightily pleased he was of it.