Swaledale, The Untamed Dale exhibition 3rd July to 15th August.

I will be showing 15 new paintings at the beautiful Old School Gallery in Muker, Swaledale. This is part of an ongoing project of trying to capture in paint the incredible spirit and beauty of the area around Kisdon in upper Swaledale.

All my life I have been a regular visitor to Swaledale, always feeling a sense of elation as we crested the Buttertubs to look down on Kisdon and the rest of the dale stretching down towards Reeth. There is a timeless magic, especially around Kisdon, that makes me feel simultaneously serene and joyous. It’s very hard to put into words, but perhaps it is ‘inspires’ and the upper dale seems to give exactly what you need, when you need it.

I “love it in all its moods” to paraphrase Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley in their lovely book, Swaledale (1934) and like most who visit Swaledale, “feel satisfied and that the rest of the world is unimportant and unreal”