I had wanted to paint a large painting, outside at the venue. The issue being that as I set off, the venue was not known or decided except I had an idea to try and paint some blackthorn. It precedes hawthorn ( may ) flowers and can look dramatic as a subject. I found myself turning off the main Malton road to walk George and eventually found myself at Neswick en-route for Kirkburn. Driving along the narrow lanes near Neswick I came across a tractor towing an enormous manure trailer. It had coated the road with generous amounts of well rotted manure making me slow down as I approached a tee junction near Neswick Farm where another fresh load in another huge trailer waited for me to pass before heading to the same field as the other tractor. The road cleared as I passed the source of the manure, a huge stack just off the road being worked with a large JCB. I suddenly noticed a stack of bales. Ever since being made more aware of bale stacks by a student from Canada, I pay particular attention when I see one. This stack was special. It comprised nine separate stacks, 2.4m square, 7.2m tall. The stacks were of miscanthus which I had remembered were grown to burn at power stations. Over at Neswick Farm I could see more stacks of bales waiting to be collected. The fields either side of the road were shaved short, an unusual sight as the tall miscanthus had previously almost touched the road at either side. I sat down with a sketch pad and did a quick watercolour sketch. Just a note for those tempted to go and paint them, miscanthus is more like bamboo and the short, shaven stems can be challenging to sit on.
Here is the sketch.
I drove to Kirkburn and then to Langton. I walked George around the village of Langton and remembered a particular building I thought would make a studio. It is empty and needs some attention so I was pleased to see a little light work had been done to the ridge coping stones and brickwork. Passing the school I stopped and realised that they had broken for Easter. I like Langton very much and know some generous minded people nearby. I walked into the churchyard, found a view and set up my French easel and folding table. I had a large 1m x 0.5m canvas and large, long handle brushes. I set out the painting and completed about 90% using just the primary colours. George lay in the deep shade behind me, asleep. I packed up and returned home. The next day I added some fine details.
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