Summer in North Yorkshire… Summer goes so fast. It’s already August, and this month I will be working on commissioned work. Commission work is always a bit daunting, but I like to work for a specific person or couple, for a specific location. I usually paint that which I want to paint, in whatever way I choose to paint it, then exhibit it in a gallery and hope. In June, Maddie Nolan came to the opening of my exhibition in Scarborough. She was my first “proper” art tutor, teaching me printmaking over 20 years ago. She who was always bright and cheerful looked tired and thin. She didn’t stay long, but gave me a packet of photographs of local views she’d taken over the years, and told me she hoped they’d be useful to me. Inspired, I painted “Runswick Bay” and “Whitby”, which I finished tonight. Maddie died on Tuesday. I’ll miss her, but my little word was made richer by her presence, and I am grateful to have known her.

“Whitby”
Oil on canvas, 30x80cm

Runswick Bay.
Acrylics, 30x80cm