Glenn Marshall - Yorkshire Artist
  • Home
  • Biography
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • GALLERY

Your Countryside Needs..... You!

12/8/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
"Buttercups and Bibles"

 This painting features a ruined church on the site of a medieval village called Cottam now long since abandoned. When I painted this I was puzzled about the church. Why, when and whom had it been built for? I presumed at the time that it was Victorian but have now found out its true history. It was in fact erected in the 1940s for RAF personnel serving in the nearby airfield. When the station was closed and the other buildings demolished it was left to the vagaries of Mother Nature and now forms the enigmatic focus for my painting. This is a beautiful area - the Yorkshire Wolds. It really is 'beautiful' with its rolling Wolds and big skies - a magnet for painters including the world famous David Hockney who used it as the centrepiece of several years work culminating in a wonderful (and unique) one man exhibition at the Royal Academy - "The Bigger Picture". Who then would like to see this marvellous countryside devastated and despoiled? Look no further than our new Prime Minister and her government who have expressed their determination to push ahead with plans for the whole area to be used for high volume hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking' to you and me. I live a few miles from this idyllic scene in the small village of Kilham but this is not a NIMBY issue because vast swathes of Yorkshire, Lancashire and parts of Derbyshire are under threat. However we have had two meetings in the village hall to see what we can do to prevent the devastation and damage that fracking inevitably leads to. Response has been good and we are proud to be part of the growing resistance movement against this reckless process. But we need your help because no area is safe! Please, please get yourself informed and add your voice to the opposition against fracking in out beautiful country. There are lots of websites to explore to find out the facts for yourself but this is a good starting point:
www.isfrackingsafe.com
Mark Mills is a successful businessman from Lancashire. I would like to leave you with a quote from an open letter he published after the one day's test fracking in his area which caused two earthquakes. The earthquakes damaged the drill and it is irrecoverable so presumably the integrity of the well has been breached and the area is already sitting on the time bomb of an environmental disaster. All that after only one test drill. Here's the part of his letter which I think neatly sums up the whole sorry matter:

" In years to come, does any sane person truly believe that injecting millions of gallons of chemicals into the earth beneath us, puncturing our protective rock and exposing water we drink to the chemicals, whilst drawing trillions of cubic metres of gas from the same area and then transporting radioactive waste in huge quantities daily for years to come will not, at some time in the future, cause some form of disaster, illness, panic, earthquake or unforeseeable adverse event?"       Mark Mills
                                                                                    
2 Comments

Rosebay Willow Herbs and other Ramblings..

1/8/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
"Rambling Amidst the Rosebay Willow Herbs"
I was returning home this morning and was struck by the profusion of rosebay willow herbs at the roadside. Great swathes of colour  brightened my journey and reminded me that these tall graceful plants, also known as fireplants or fireweeds, form an essential frame for summer scenes. A few years ago I was commissioned to paint some of these elegant flowers near Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire. We made a day of it. I set up to paint and Merice accompanied the client Judy for a stroll along the impressive scar past the white horse and then down the quaintly named 'Thieves Highway' back to where I was. The highway is a lovely meandering track down the steep slope back to my location here. Here is the painting I did on the day:
Picture
You will note some obvious differences to the finished piece. To suit Judy's whimsical personality I stripped back the strong pines on the left to let in more light and allow me to create an ethereal and colourful background while retaining the spirit of the place and emphasising the flowers. To round off the day we were treated to lunch at the imposing Byland Abbey Arms where I enjoyed the most expensive steak and kidney pud I've ever had in my life. All in a day's work...well someone has to do it! Keep your eyes out for and enjoy these beautiful blooms yourselves this summer.
2 Comments

    Author

    Professional artist now semi retired and enjoying being eccentric!

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    February 2022
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.