Lake District 2009

Mounted Limited Edition Print

Image size 30 x 45cm (mounted size 50 x 60cm)

The Lake District painting is set in the Lake District National Park on an early morning fell walk. The steep valley is contrasted with the promise of open views ahead. The palette is restrained in this painting. The subtle variations of forest green lead the eye gently down to a strong peach hue that cuts across the picture plain, reminding the viewer of the energy and demanding nature of this landscape. This is Wordsworth country; the idyllic stream and dew-wet grass, reminiscent of his lines ‘One calm September morning, ere the mist, had altogether yielded to the sun, Sauntered on this retired and difficult way.’

The Lake District painting opposes the Scottish Highland painting in that it depicts a very different British mountain-scape. The difference in the Lakeland fells and the Highland mountains is not just a matter of scale. The Lake District painting is a more cultivated; more inhabited landscape. For me the Lake District is painting is about a journey. It is the promise of a day’s walk in the fells, an early start climbing out through a valley to the high fells beyond. The Hiker has a spring in their step, and a landscape that can be privately enjoyed and discovered. It is about leaving the valley floor with its restricted views, and moving on and up to more elevated peaks.

The Lake District is one of England’s best-loved destinations, and its largest National Park, containing a varying landscape of lakes and fells. The children’s author, Beatrix Potter, established the Lake District as her home, and still proves today to be a major tourist attraction by means of a museum in Bowness-on-Windermere. The famous walker and writer, Alfred Wainwright, explored the Lakes District in fine detail, and established a famous walk across England; beginning in Cumbria, travelling the full width of the Lake District, before culminating on the North Yorkshire coastline at Robin Hood’s Bay. Dove Cottage is the setting for all things William Wordsworth, and is another popular magnet in the Lake District. The Langdale, situated near to Ambleside, provides restful release in the form of a wonderfully unique spa and hotel experience in the heart of the Lake District National Park.

Original Watercolour Prints