woodcuts swaledale sheep and lambs

i am not sure if this is the same sheep I did a woodcut of earlier in the year-no they don't all look the same -but they aren't much different either-anyway -a proud mum with her lambs

yorkshire dales churches woodcuts

Two woodcuts of churches in the dales-the church on the hill and St.Mary's Stainburn.
the one at the top is a very old church(built in the 11/12 century)-services are no longer held in it.It is held in trust and preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust.Inside it is whitewashed and very plain, the choir stalls might just hold a bass, a tenorand a couple of trebles!I don't think this was a church where the landed gentry went-just good honest yorkshire folk.Sitting quietly in the old pews I thought that I felt the history of the building. As I bowed my head ,in my mind I saw a monk in brown homespun pass followed by yorkshire farmers, a yeomen in oatmeal and brown coloured clothes their women folk similarly attired with the occaisional piece of brightly coloured cloth brought from the local market -some 6 miles away.The church sits on the edge of the valley that leads up to almescliffe rocks.Julia Odell is doing a painting looking up the valley to the rocks.A real haven of peace in a troubled world -I fell in love with the church and its location.

Swaledale Ewe suckling two lambs

i couldn't resist doing a woodcut of this very proud swaledale ewe suckling her two lambs.
they were just outside St.Mary's Church -Stainburn that we were photographing with almescliffe crag in the background

woodcuts yorkshire dales

I have been doing some more woodcuts of the dales(with more to come).When I was very young and could not afford what most outdoor shops today consider basic essentials. When i was out walking and climbing with friends we slept in barns and caves-they all had names Ben Froggats barn at Baslow-the poltergeist barn at the roaches-
I was snug-ish in my sleeping bag-a victorian bedspread sewn up on two sides-nothing fancy like lilo's or camping mats we slept on the floor-I was in my 20's before i could afford a "proper" sleeping bag!
These images bring back a memory of some of those great days

prints and woodcuts

I find that print always informs my work so from time to time i take time off painting and get out my various print making tools and materials.
Last year I was a bit ill- as part of my recovery process I brought some tools for making woodcuts and material -a process that I thoughly enjoyed-though it was -and still is like- learning a new language.I have always enjoyed the japanese woodcuts-but I knew my work wasn't going to be like that I also enjoy the small english woodcuts-even those in the guardian that sometimes they use to top their "country column"-I knew my work wasn't going to be like that either but I think both have informed my work a little-here is the bestwoodcut to date of a wharfedale road together with a collograph I did of scottish hills

Gabrielle Munter

During the last six months I discovered a new heroine-Gabrielle Munter.I am sure Gabrielle's story is well known in Germany but not so well known elsewhere. briefly this is it.
Gabrielle was a lady of fairly independant means in the early 1900's(she was born in 1877)She studied art and in 1902 enrolled in an art class run in Munich by Kandinsky-Kandinsky was married but never the less was attracted to Gabrielle It was a year later that he overcame his moral scruples and started an affair with Gabrielle together they travelled through Europe and Gabrielle eventually brought a house in Murnau Bavaria for them in 1907.Kandinsky and Gabrielle were very involved in the art movements that became called Expressionism. Gabrielles paintings are more accessible than Kandinsky's.
it was in 1914 that Kandinsky left Gabrielle to go back to Russia-she met him once more in sweden in 1916 an acrimonious meeting where he was demanding the painting she held of his-I guess Gabrielle was devasted she probably felt she had given the best years of her life to this guy who had just ditched her! In 1917 kandinsky married a 17 year girl-he was in his 40's.
Gabrielle -no mean artist stopped painting for a while.It wasn't untill1927 that she formed a new relationship with the art critic Johannes Eichner.She watched the rise of the Reich and when they exhibited the notorious "entartete (degenerate)art" exhibition in 1937 she realised finally the way the wind was blowing and collected from her old friends in the Expressionist movement as much expressionistic art as she could and hid it in her house in Murnau.(800 pieces in total).
The Nazi's must have suspected that she had these works for on 3 occaissions they ransacked the house unsuccessfully. I think had they found the work she would have been shipped to the camps. Anyway Gabrielle was very poor-painting pictures for food.
After the war the Americans came looking for expressionistic art-on two occaisions-they didn't find anything either.
In1950 when the dust of war was blowing over she was approached by the director of the Stadtische Gallerie im Lebenbach Hause in Munich to see if she could help with an exhibition on expressionism-she gradually released and gave to the gallery her collection that she had carefully saved.It was the biggest art bequest of the 20th. century.Almost singled handedly she bravely had preserved the expressionistic movement.
What can you say -what a star -what a brave lady-she died in 1962-but we should celebrate her and her style!

Back to the dales -a sketch of a few houses, a pack horse bridge and a stream all you need really!-