Cheviot from the North

Studio painting based on sketches done on location in the Cheviot hills, Northumberland. On a formal level I love the rhythm of this post-glacial landscape dominated as it is by the dome of Cheviot. It’s a very man-made landscape with extensive conifer farming in straight line blocks. Although I don’t like these nature-poor plantations and the clear felling regimes every 30 years or so they do create pleasing abstract patterns along with meandering roads and tracks. It’s about the clash between our modern human tendency to dominate and subdue nature for our own selfish ends and our need to revere nature and its beauty as our essential life support system.