Some New Painting

Moving away from the Childhood Memories theme, I am responding more to my environment and thinking about the history of the place and the effect of the activity of humans on the environment. The area around Aysgarth (the name means clearing in the wood)is quite wooded and has a nature reserve woodland with much thoughtful planting by local landowners. The area above the Upper Falls is quite distinctive with its raised roots on the trees that grow close to the River Ure indicating a change in water level. This is quite seasonal and can also be quite dramatic with the waterlevels rising and falling in response to the amount of water coming down the valley. During the summer I did some drawing of the are above the falls and have started to work them up into paintings.

I like to work in sketchbooks and will use any spare paint to create a background in the sketchbooks so I can develop inmages with a common colour relationship and also to use up any acrylic paint that would otherwise be thrown away or washed into the water system.

I am fascinated by the shapes of the roots, the compositions that they form. I have been working in oils here on board. I sketch out the composition with oil bars and then develop using brushes, two stages of the same painting can be seen here but is as yet unfinished.

This is a larger one that I am working on, I am quite enjoying the mood that these are developing with a surreal quality due to the emotional colour selection and flattened perspective. I am leaving this here as they are still in the early stages and will post again in the New Year. Thanks for reading. Julie

Yore Mill Summer 22

Yore Mill Bridge Summer 22 These small paintings are straight forward views of the mill in one way. But in another they tell a story of climate change. The summer of 22 was the hottest on records and the hottest temperature was recorded in Britain since records began. We were able to walk down the river from the Upper Falls to the Middle Falls actually on the river bed. We picked up litter and agricultural plastic from the river bed and found a Victorian boot that was revealed by the low water. Also visible was the broken mill wheel that has been languishing in the river since it was cracked probably in the Georgian or Victorian period of the Mill being in its industrial height. So the views of the Mill and Bridge are looking up from a dry river bed and not the usual viewpoint from road or bankside that would usually be seen. I have painted them in acrylic paint on recycled board. I am aware of the implications for plastic pollution with using acrylic paint. I paint multiple images at the same time to minimise wasting. I only put out what will be used in one session and use it all up even if that means painting a background in a sketchbook. Then only the brushes need to be washed and waste is minimised. I am finding a direction in these paintings as I respond to the environment in a visual and emotional way.