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| Finished painting 40x30 inch, oil on stretched canvas. |
I had a large, 40 x30 stretched canvas and my mind turned to the area along Loaningdale Road near Nunburnholme Wold. I thought that a painting could be done which included the distant Kipling Cotes finishing post as well as the wonderfully picturesque Hammers Dale. So off George and I went. It was a quiet, idyllic day for painting, warm, clear air and no wind. I made good progress painting on the Michael Harding acrylic ground i had applied to the canvas
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| Palette is a little messy as I try and plan the work |
After planning the main elements of the painting I decided to stop and return another day to complete the work. The next visit proved problematic. The conditions were the same except for a gusting wind which threatened to tip the canvas. The canvas flapped with the wind making finer detailing impossible. The painting was put in the car and I packed up. As I was here and did not want waste time I did a sketch which I thought would be useful for future work on the canvas. A local farmer stopped, climbed down from his huge JCB and came over for a chat. We covered lots of interesting points. This was the same man who had been driving a tractor towing a tilling rig in the pale coloured field just visible over the hedge. When I walked George along the road, I looked down the hillside to the bottom of the hill, it was a continuous pale pinkish brown. The tractor turned, lined itself up and set off heading to the bottom of the hill. Then something strange, a surprise, the tractor began to disappear, even though it had a long way to go. I watched as the tilling discs, then the rig uprights and finally the tractor cab disappeared. It was a Houdini moment. When I mentioned this he said yes, that there was a steep dip on the hillside, invisible from the road. These dips and hills also meant that a smaller spraying rig was used at the farm. He told me that their rig was a modest 24 metres, any bigger would be problematic when turning on sharp slopes as the arms could catch and be damaged by coming into contact with the land. Not far away I watched a farmer with a 36 metres rig, his land was smooth and level in comparison. The farmer went on to explain how he had has an accident with a chainsaw. The resulting medical treatment required 3 visits to different facilities 35 miles apart and took all day. We talked of subsidies and how a lot seem to be changing. He also mentioned that the tilled field was to have peas planted which would be the first time in forty years. I mentioned that some of the old hedging showed signs of being laid at some time and did he remember it being done. He said it must have been fifty years ago as he could not remember it. I pause and look skywards. I thought I saw some swallows earlier though none could be seen at the moment.
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| Rather complicated arrangement, George on his bed. |
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| Sketch of the area including more of the view to the right hand side. Interestingly Pricket wood could just be seen on the right hand side horizon. The Kipling Cotes Derby course passes this wood. It had been the subject of an earlier painting. |
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The painting is not finished at this point. I need to make some minor adjustments. The actual canvas is much larger.
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