A view from Huggate.

12 x 10 inch oil on canvas.

Another warm day saw me driving down meandering lanes, passing large, rolling, arable fields protected by neat hawthorn hedges, eventually stopping at Huggate. This view, looking north, on a still, slightly hazy, sunny day appeared possible. The house seemed to be protected by the trees around it and the huge barn reminds us of the agricultural relevance of this area of the Wolds. The distant horizon was a little paler than I have shown , though not significantly more so. I liked the very pale pink of the lower horizon and the foreground sheep.  I laid out the essential details and visited the next day to continue the painting. The public house, The Wolds Inn, is just to my left and I decided to partake of it's hospitality, having a sandwich and an apple juice ( cider ) while sitting outside in their beer garden. Driving away from Huggate I stopped and walked George. After a few minutes I discovered some hidden valleys, very dramatic, making me think about a future painting. Then, as if from nowhere, lots of horse riders passed me. After a canter from the valley below they slowed to a trot and then a walk, and, as they passed we exchanged some views about the weather, and I noticed the last rider had number 302 on her back.