Cotswolds

The work describes a crisp winter’s day, and the pleasure of returning indoors after the exhilaration of a hike on the Cotswolds Way. The work has a wonderful rhythmical feel to it, as the slalom of the stream weaves determined to the farmhouse in the distance.  The palette captures a very definite place and time; that early winter morning, pure of air, the frost reflecting rose and pale blue hues underfoot.

The artist reflects on this scene, stating that ‘with this painting I wanted to focus on the homestead, the country cottage, and use the historic scene of the gable end of a farm house to great effect.  As with all Uberpaintings, the work treads a fine line between representation and a heightened essence of a place.  So in this sense this painting takes the literal uber meaning over and is over-painted: it is over the top. It is what we want to see after a long walk on a cold winter’s day; it’s the comfort and security of the home, opposed to the potential threat of a cold snap closing in on us.  This is the happy return. The telegraph poles appear like beacons, guiding us in.’

The Cotswolds is one of the quintessentially English and unspoiled regions of the British Isles.  The area is officially the largest in England designated as an ‘area of natural beauty’ and broadly speaking stretches from Shakespeare’s Stratford upon Avon, to the beautiful spa city of Bath in the south.  The towns that appear throughout the Cotswolds are seamlessly knitted together by the honey-coloured Cotswold stone, a limestone unique to the area.  Something of a hidden gem in the Cotswolds in the old-fashioned charm of Burleigh Court Hotel and the perfectly tranquil Calcot Manor Spa, allows relaxation in beautiful Cotswolds surroundings.