John Geekie Art Publications,
Two books
INTERNATIONAL PLEIN AIR ARTIST,
PRINTS,
CALENDARS,
BOOKS
Publisher of
1. YORKSHIRE SKETCHBOOK featuring pen and ink washes,
2. How to make a pochade box to become a
PLEIN AIR PAINTER
EMAIL
MY ONLINE STORE
John Geekie Art Publications,
Two books
The gigantic, magnificent Minningdale Stack |
Back page with George. |
Sample page (A3) |
Wetwang to Sledmere stack |
Etton stacks from the south |
Etton stacks from the west. |
Etton stacks from the north west. |
York Road, HUGGATE. Church spire extreme left. |
Looking north from COBDALE Cottage towards High Barn and Huggate. |
COBDALE Cottage with people carriers beyond. |
A break in the sweetcorn crop, just off the path. |
Looking down into Well Dale, with the shoot out of sight. |
Acrylic on deep edge canvas 12x16 inch |
Detail |
Detail |
L working up her painting |
Her finished work, excellent effort. |
A view of an old pear tree.
This less obvious view shows a pear tree near a store for chairs. I have added a young visitor who was exploring the garden with his mum, who in turn, was with her mum. So we had a dynasty here enjoying the peace and serenity of a September garden. The pear tree was full of old pears, some very ripe proving attractive to two red admirals. I think they will be getting ready to hibernate over winter and perhaps use the delightful brick potting shed.
To be part of a series of paintings featuring the garden.
14x10 inch, oil on canvas board.
Typical layout |
The painting inside the pochade box. |
Minningdale Tunnel, oil on canvas board, 14x10 inch |
Minningdale Tunnel
|
Here is a view looking back from the stack, along the road which leads to Warter, passing Minningdale Farm. The belt of trees on the right envelopes the farm complex with a protective shield. Soon it will change as autumn gives way to winter. The leaves will turn gold and rust changing the scene completely, reminding me to visit again to paint again. As I painted this view, George at my feet, I was standing on a roadside verge. Indeed my fellow artist and her dog were doing the same at the other side of the road, their subject being umbels and the huge stack. I concentrated on the painting, the road disappearing into a small bright light as it emerged from the tree tunnel. Passing close to me, at regular intervals were huge Stewart trailers ferrying harvested grain back and forth. Their tyres were enormous and I noted they had three axles which automatically made me think twenty one tons. As well as these, which were racing to take advantage of the good weather, I saw a familiar sight. Another skeletal trailer designed as a bale chaser zoomed by and I waved to the driver. We had chatted recently when I had painted the ‘stack’. Indeed he had built it and confirmed it was the longest in the area, and that the height was the maximum that could be built with the trailer. I enjoy the brief interactions with the farmers, a nod, a smile which says so much about mutual respect. I certainly appreciate the hard job they all have at this time of harvest. We all decide to stop painting and head off home where we both work late into the failing light, on an allotment, our version of seasonal endeavour though on a somewhat smaller scale. Available from my online store. Video here showing two bale chasers building a stack 6 bales high by approx. 56 bales long https://youtu.be/dMWJvxgHtmw?si=pPSlhlnqyZwwlwNM |
The huge stack detail from larger painting |
The Bale stack
A young student from Canada whom I had known as a child, was visiting and I remember, some time ago, we had talked about having a day out painting when he next visited. So today was a long overdue meeting. I took him for a drive into the secret Yorkshire Wolds exploring the dry valleys, looking at land art, visiting the famous Robert Fuller gallery as I explained aspects of the area such as the dew ponds project. We explored a field containing long wavy lines made from small ridges, emphasised by shadows. Top growth (haulms) had been removed leaving pallid stalks emerging from the tops of mini-ridges, these were potatoes waiting to be lifted.
When asked what he wanted to paint he liked the notion of tall stacks of bales. This was a good choice, we could see as we drove, pale handkerchief fields confettied with bales, some round, others cuboid. We drove looking for stacks. Here and there we saw farmers hurriedly loading bales onto wagons, to be taken to yards nearby. We stopped at a field with small stacks and decided they were not quite tall enough at just 4 bales high, though as they clung to the rolling hillside they emphasised perspective and linearity. Driving towards home I knew of a stack that I had painted recently, which may still be there when suddenly we saw, in the distance, approaching Warter at Minningdale, a colossal stack. I had never seen anything like it. It was huge. It comprised large cuboid ( Heston ?) bales, each one being approximately 2.5m long and 1.2m square in section. The stack was eight bales high by at least 30 bales long, a bale wide. We quickly stopped and I set up an easel for him. He set about painting. I loved the way he mixed the paint. He was really observing. Here is his finished 14x10 inch canvas board painting. An amazingly refined work. I am impressed the range of subtle colours, the almost abstract impression. It is a lovely reminder of a day out painting, feeling the wind and hearing the sounds of nature, the smell of straw bales. This was produced using one of my portable pochade painting boxes. I have produced a book for artists which shows in detail, with paintings and prose, how to make your own. These are available from my online store.
Here is his finished 14x10 inch oil on canvas board painting. Please click image to see his wonderful use of colour |
I decided to revisit and paint a larger canvas. However the wind was too strong to set up the French easel, so I worked by laying the canvas flat. People drove past behind me, on the busy road linking Warter and Huggate. The day was brighter than before which helped with defining shadows. I decided on a slightly different angle to include some dead umbels and nettles, as well as a nearby tree line.
This painting was produced en plein air at the site. I limited my use of colour to the three primaries, specifically French Ultramarine, Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Red medium. I also used Titanium white.
80x60cm oil on deep edge canvas stretched canvas |
Having been out recently I am always pleased to see bales sitting in fields. I can imagine two bales in conversation as the spiked tractors hunt them down. Here is a little cartoon.
14x10 inch oil on canvas,