Flascoe Bridge, Austwick - Pochade

Flascoe Bridge, Austwick - Pochade 8" x 6" Oil on Board

Flascoe Bridge near Austwick is a wonderful example of a stone clapper bridge, a very basic bridge type of large stone slabs on stone piers. It was supposedly built in the later middle ages (15th Century) over Autswick beck, and the adjoining ford provides vehicular access along the green lane which connects the small hamlet of Feizor to the massive metropolis of Austwick.

While I was sat there, a number of dog walkers brought their pooches for a paddle in the beck, and with the heat of yesterday all of them were thankful for a refreshing dip; making me think about a larger version of this.

This was painted en plein-air yesterday, however I threw in a figure strolling across the bridge, and when I got back to the studio to scrutinize what I had done it became apparent that the figure didn't look right, so off he went... I think the touch-up went rather well!

Goredale - Pochade

Pochade - The Approach to the Scar. Oil on Board 8" x 6"

 
Yeah I know, I know... how clicheed? I don't care if Turner painted it - it is a wonderful spot on a summers' day, and a fantastic place to camp. Goredale Scar in Malhamdale HAS to be one of the highlights of the Dales, so much so as the family and myself walked down the hill from home to Stainforth Foss, a bunch of foreign gentlemen (foreign  - from overseas - not Lancashire) showed me a picture of Goredale Scar on their phone and asked directions to it. The gorge itself is the product of a collapsed cave system, and a public right of way exists up the waterfall in the heart of the chasm.

Again the pochade took about an hour to paint, and I was amazed by how much the earth had rotated in that hour, glad I got the shadows down first and didn't do my usual trick of chasing the sun and proloning painting unnecessarily.

HSE gone mad...

HSE Gone Mad, Oil on Board 8" x 6"

Aye, its even spread to the relatively quiet outpost of the Yorkshire Dales. Large, red, yellow and white warning signs appearing on delapidated barns highlighting the dangers that might befall should anyone stray too close or let the curiousity get the better of them. I painted this from the relative saftey of 50m away, just in case the barn should collapse, I didn't want to take any chances.

Strangely enough in the 45minutes it took me to paint this pochade, no part of the barn collapsed, no slate dropped off,  no beam fell crashing to the floor despite the warning signs emblazoned on its gable. Is it me or is this absolutely ridiculous? I know farmers have got to CYA, but to plaster warning signs around the countryside to mitigate against litigation - is that a justified response?
Whatever the reason - the sign does add a splash of colour to the image, and I didn't have to add the obligatory colourful figure walking up the track.

Luncheon Hut, Gayle Beck Lodge

Gayle Beck Lodge - Oil on Board 5" x 7"

Anyone who has driven over the B6255 from Ribblehead to Hawes cannot fail to have missed the broken down, abandoned, ruin that was once a 'luncheon hut' for shooting parties out on the moors above Gearstones. There has always been an air of mystery about this little building, whose fate is quickly fading away.

The lodge has recently been in the local rag, The Craven Herald, and there is a call to save this iconic little building. Local landscape photographer Martin Henson has a wonderful article about it on his site.  http://www.martinhensonphotography.co.uk/help-to-save-gayle-beck

The painting was taken from a photo I took during one of the snowstorms we had in January this year, it reminds me of the paintings of Peter Brook, an artist who I greatly admire with his chilling portraits of farms in the Pennines.

New beginnings - Cat Steps

Cat Steps Oil on Board - 10" x 8"

It has been some time since the last post, only about 3 years, so I thought it was about time this got going again, and this time - hopefully I will get more comments...

Cat Steps is a staircase of stone steps cut into the limestone cliffs above Stainforth, legend has it by the Giant of Winskill, although their true date is unknown, whether preshistoric or cut in the middle ages they form part of a two-mile circular walk from the village. This painting is of our two, climbing up the last part of the staircase to the ladder stile at the top, silhouetted against the tolkienesque woodlands carpetted with lichens and mosses. A wonderful place to be, although the steps are incredibly slippery after an all too common downpour...

Catrigg Foss

Finally I have been back at the easel. After a mixture of work and moving house, I managed a couple of days to myself to get something done, to be honest I had more than a couple of days as I was sick as a dog for about a week, but I could not face anyone or anything then.

As always this painting was a stop-start affair, I walked out of the house on Wednesday morning full of the best intentions to paint the waterfall en-plein air, but as it was drizzling (you know the stuff that goes right through you) I wavered a little and then backed into the house.
After another cup of coffee and a root through my rucksack, I pulled on my waterproof and had another go at this, I left the house, crossed the stepping stones and made it as far as the track which leads to this waterfall before turning back as I had remembered I had taken out the small paint kettle in which I put my water... Attempt number 3 got me as far as the waterfall itself, and following sliding, slipping and ending up in the river I sat myself down, mid-stream on a wet rock and waiting for a dry spell in which to whip out the pochade box, and get painting.

Alas the dry spell never materialised and prior to contracting pneumonia whilst waiting motionlessly, I said to myself 'bugger it', dug out the camera, snap, snap, waded back through the torrent, climbed the unclimbable, and slipped all the way down the track home, pausing only to do a passable impression of Bambi on the ice as I crossed the stepping stones.

Catrigg Foss Oil on Board 10" x 8"

Once home, the photos were loaded onto the computer, and I painted this from one of them.
The waterfall is Catrigg Foss, just out of Stainforth, north of Settle, an absolutely wonderful place (when dry), and a great place for a dip in the plunge pool on a warm summers day. Thankfully this place is often overlooked as it is off the main drag, and to see it you really have to want to see it.