The Ruined Church - Bishop Thornton

St John's church, Bishop Thornton. 

Something a bit on the Gothic side for a change. Inspired by Casper David Frederick's The Abbey in the Oakwood, this ruined church has enchanted me for 35 or so years, ever since I came across a photo in Richard Muir's excellent Shell Guide to the English Landscape. This solitary tower isolated in an island of tombs never fails to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I hope to have represented my feelings about this captivating place with this painting, the arms of the bare trees clawing out to the tower like bony hands, the gravestones are probably more dishevelled here than in reality and the path certainly does not exist, but hey, its a painting not a photo.

I have painted and sketched it en Plein air with little success, but here in this 8" x 10" I have finally scratched that itch. There's some narrative as the dried flowers on one of the graves attest to provide something a little bit extra.

The Ruined Church - Bishop Thornton 10" x 8" Oil on Board

Stroll through Fountains

Oil on Board 12" x 6": Painted from sketches and photos in the studio from an afternoon stroll at Fountains Abbey. Probably one of the best preserved ruined (oxymoron?) monasteries in Northern England. Some beautiful light finally emerged from behind the clouds illuminating the western side of the church tower enthused me to scribble down a quick sketch, and snapshot on a phone camera - so pretty useless as a photo but great as an aide memoir. The two people which add a little life to the scene and aid the composition were chucked in from some other sketches from elsewhere in the abbey.

Oil on Board 12" x 6"

How Hill

How Hill - Oil on Board 8" x 6"

Another trek across the Pennines resulted in about 60kg of apples and a couple of paintings, one a pochade is waiting to dry before being 'touched up' and this one of How Hill, painted from a photo. I guess I am allowed to paint this from a photo as I spent over an hour observing the scene while painting the other pochade. How Hill was orginally a chantry chapel, part of the old Fountains Abbey estate, the tower that is still standing was built on the site of the chapel in  around 1720 and was used as a gaming house. Historic England has a great deal to say on the matter How Hill Chapel link. All that said, it was well worth the journey across the hills, although I have to crush and squash all them apples now...