Michael

 A warm welcome to my very own ‘Pendle Gallery by the Weir’! It is a beautifully formed little gallery, nestling by the Weir in Barrowford Park (close to the Pendle Heritage Centre at BB9 6JQ). I feel very blessed to be able to show my work in such a characterful setting and at the very heart of the area which has inspired many of my paintings. I have exhibited at the Pendle Heritage Centre for a number of years now and my work has always been well received by those who visit. This led me to enquire whether there was a place connected to the Centre where I could exhibit my work more permanently. Fortunately, there was a room that was not currently being used and following the conversation with Rhona Brett, I was able to populate this exciting new space with my work and to open the new ‘Pendle Gallery by the Weir’ on Fridays and Saturdays. Since opening, I have had lots of lovely conversations with people about my work and our beautiful surrounding landscape and paintings and prints have gone off to new homes. Exciting times – roll on 2024! If you are in the area on a Friday or Saturday (10.00am – 4.00pm), why not bob in and have a browse. A warm welcome awaits!

 We have recently moved to a small but beautifully formed cottage at Roughlee which is situated in beautiful and wild countryside close to Pendle Hill. In fact we bought a large garden, overlooking Pendle which happened to come with a house! Since arriving, I have familiarised myself with our local landscape and have taken thousands of photographs as inspiration for paintings. Here are two recent skyscape paintings inspired by our immediate surroundings. 

Below is one of the newly framed pieces for the Harrogate Art Fair (which is just a week away!). ‘Through the Veil’ is an original acrylic moodscape evoking a misty mountain scene inspired by my travels through the West Coast of Scotland. Often my paintings reflect something of the ‘inner landscape’ at the same time as the outer landscape. As I return to the world of art after a break, the way forward is not always clear and I have this sense of great opportunities, shrouded in mystery. Sometimes, as with the Harrogate art Fair, I have to take the next step in faith and trust that all will unfold in positive and exciting ways.  In life, I can’t always see the way ahead and I tend to call for guidance, listen to ‘the voice within’ (noticing any ‘pointers’ that seem to appear) and then I take the next step. So having felt guided towards the Harrogate Art Fair, I have invested in a stall, selected a body of work, chosen and ordered the framing and had leaflets and business cards printed. So now I hope, pray and am even prepared to expect, that the weekend will be a success – involving rich conversations with fellow art enthusiasts, some of whom will want to take a piece of art home with them. I am really looking forward to sharing my landscapes and moodscapes and connecting with people again through my work.  Here’s a link to Harrogate Art Fair. Through the Veil (framing by Phil Darby)

I went on a bit of an artistic journey this week – out of my comfort zone and into the land of portraiture. I was working from an old photograph of my wife Jo’s great grandad Edward Lowndes Aldersley who died in the Somme in 1916. In studying the image, I was moved by the slightly haunted expression in the eyes which seemed to me to reflect fear, uncertainty, sadness, determination and courage, among other things. The challenge was to somehow reflect these things through accuracy and sensitivity in the handling of the pencil. As I worked, I was reminded of the privilege of being an artist, in that we have the capacity to let the Spirit flow through us, breathing life into our work. In this case, I felt Edward emerged from the paper as the drawing progressed and became somehow present. There is something about the qualities of a soft pencil and a slightly textured paper that can help to bring out the depth in a study like this and to reflect the ‘otherness’ of Edwards expression.  The proof of the portrait is in the reactions of those closest to Edward, of course. On receiving it as a birthday present from me and Jo, her dad (Eddie) said ‘Yes, that’s grandad. It sounds strange but it’s like I know him through this portrait – he comes alive’. Jo was also moved by the portrait and said, ‘I feel like I can reach out and touch him’. As for me, I feel like I spent a little time getting to know him this week and I felt privileged to look into the young, scared, brave eyes of a cherished family member who lost his life so that we, and those before us, might have our freedom. I only hope that my portrait does his memory justice. Edward Lowndes Aldersley 1883 – 1916   

Well, what a couple of years that has been! The pandemic forced a retreat from the studio and from exhibitions for a while and so, apart from one online workshop each week, my creative focus and energies shifted to visualising and creating the home life that we wanted.  We (Jo and I) began by getting married in Scottish woodland (near our regular haunt -Watercolour Cottage, near Ardgour) – a beautiful, small and sacred ceremony in perfect surroundings.  Shortly after, we began the process of moving house and building the dream – creating a wonderful new environment which would inspire all that we do in the future. This has involved (aside from a lot of prayer and soul searching) moving to a cottage on the edge of Roughlee, creating ‘chicken world’ in the garden,  knocking down and replacing a workshop (which now has views over the countryside) and replacing the existing summerhouse with a hardier log cabin style – one which has an open view of Pendle Hill and is a very peaceful and inspiring space.  So now we have a place that we love – a ‘house of belonging’ (to borrow a title from a David Whyte poem), from which we can dream, envision and then plan and work towards bringing things into being. We are feeling very blessed and grateful and are still pinching ourselves to make sure that it’s not just a dream! Here are some photo’s of our ‘new’ place at Ousel Rock, Roughlee. The ‘house of belonging’ The workshop (pre-furniture!) Alice guarding the summerhouse Inside the summerhouse (1) Inside the summerhouse (2) A room with a view Mist over pendle from the summerhouse Contemplative corner Lola May’s memorial garden (our king charles spaniel) and Maude Tuppence and Alice at Sunset Chicken World Jo with Anne and Phil – great friends, great evening Here’s to dreaming, cheers! So having concentrated on the Art of life for this ‘season’, it is time to bring the inspiration back into the practise of art and teaching! Watch this space for exciting updates over the next few days and weeks. 

For the last few years, I have travelled up to Scotland with my partner Jo and we have stayed at Watercolour Cottage in Ardgour on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. The landscape is stunning in all its majestic wildness, particularly the passage over Rannoch Moor, through Glen Coe and of course the ever-changing form of Ben Nevis across Loch Linnhe. I have begun a series of work called ‘Mountains and Mist’, exploring the subtleties of landscape contours as they disappear and reappear through the swirling mists. I’m delighted to say that the first three of the series have been taken on by Resipole Studios & Art Gallery Nr. Strontian and will be on display there shortly. I’m looking forward to carrying on with the series, working from some dramatic and beautiful photographs taken during our visits to the area. I may also experiment with memory and imagination. Watch this space… Misty Peaks, Glen Coe Ben Nevis Emerging (1) Ben Nevis emerging (2)

Following on from my last blog, here are some more dark stirrings painted in watercolour using mainly indigo with hints of other colours.