CRASTER PANORAMA

I have lost track of the number of time I have made the small expedition between Craster and Dunstanburgh Castle. Firstly it was as a cyclist in adolescence with my friends. I remember we were all a bit interested in archaeology and we looked at the masons' marks which are to be seen there, So familiarity led me to think that I wouldn't be finding anything very original in terms  of a view one late afternoon in May this year.I will admit that I only really saw this composition after we got home.Nor do I ever think much about cropping photos. I like to get the composition right first time. But having said that I remember that one of my oldest friends is particularly interested in cropping  photos. Colin Miller ARPS does a lot of cropping and makes a success of it. And he too is a veteran of the Dunstanburgh expeditions. But anyway, here is the final composition and after it the original version. I quite liked the idea of everything in the composition leading down to the left with the harbour structure as a kind of punctuation.And I have always liked panoramas in painting.

final crop

original composition.

TREE ANATOMY-OLD BEECH AT OLD MOOR HOUSE

I have often photographed the old beeches at Old Moor House.This place was the site of a rather basic inn alongside a drovers' route from Scotland.It is situated on rough moorland at what must have been an inclement height in winter. The alignment of the route was changed in the mid C19 to a lower position. The inn, which may have been called The Swinburne Arms, probably fell into disuse about that time.It would have been a hard enough living to earn at the best of times but if the drovers no longer passed by it must have become even more precarious.These  beeches provide shelter and pollarded wood , again perhaps into the C19 but eventually they were left to develop. They are planted in a regular formation and give the local sheep a green oasis and shelter. A burn runs through the middle.It was Tennyson who wrote of "the serpent-rooted beech" and the phrase is entirely apt here.

TREE ANATOMY

TREE ANATOMY 1

TREE ANATOMY 2

ART AT ROCK-DAVID JONES,BEN NICHOLSON AND THE COLLECTOR HELEN SUTHERLAND

Rock village is a hamlet in Northumberland with a claim to be of some importance in the history of modern British art. Rock Hall was leased  from its owners the Bosanquet family by the wealthy collector and patron Helen Sutherland from 1929-39. She is buried in the graveyard only a short distance from the Hall.

Ben and Winifred Nicholson were vistors in the late 1920s.So too, about the same time was David Jones. Sutherland's small but well chosen collection in particular featured Ben Nicholson and David Jones.At the time of her death she owned 47 works by Ben Nicholson.

For several decades a minor work by Ben Nicholson actually stood in the church. It was a collection box which he had made in 1925 for the building. It was Murray McCheyne who first mentioned it to me about 1970 and I remember going to look  at it at that time.It wouldn't have qualified as one of Nicholson's best works but it was obviously something he had made.The box is no longer at the church.It was sold  at Sotheby's in 2001. it was too valuable to leave there unattended.

Offertory Box by Ben Nicholson. Formerly at Rock Church. Now in a Swiss collection.

About that time David Jones also became a regular guest. The view from his window above the front door of Rock Hall inspired some of his watercolours including The Chapel in the Park, now at Tate Britain. Jones was wrapped up in Welsh and Arthurian history and legend. He seems to have identified the church at Rock with the Chapel Perilous of Arthurian legend.

St Philip and St James Rock, Northumberland.

The Chapel in the Park

This is the painting in the Tate Gallery. It was not a part of the Sutherland collection. Jones made more than one view from the window at Rock. In the catalogue for the Kendal showing of  Sutherland's collection (1964)  is listed  her watercolour ;The Chapel Perilous:from a window at Rock. We can presume that the views were similar .
 In this version the church appears on the left almost three quarters of the way up the picture. The medieval bridge appears  on the right at almost the same height . You should be able to see the pyramidal caps on the corners and the round arch.

Medieval bridge near Rock Church.

Rock hall seen from the churchyard. David Jones always had the room over the front door.

 Helen Sutherland is buried in the churchyard but  her gravestone is not of the quality  which I would have associated with such a fastidious collector. It is certainly a work of the 1960s and the lettering on the back is crude in design . It is ironic that Helen Sutherland was associated with David Jones that remarkable designer of inscriptions. Here the quality is lacking.

The  verse on the back of the stone is unknown to me. I am guessing that Kathleen Raine, another friend might be a possible source.If anyone knows the name of the creator of the verse or the actual carving I would really appreciate it if they can leave a comment.Ms Sutherland did not die at Rock and had indeed removed long before her death to the Lakes but her time there must have been of particular importance to her.

The chi-rho device on the back of the stone and on which the text appears superimposed it will be remembered as standing for the first two letters of the Greek word Christos. Helen Sutherland was a Christian.

The church from the south. The curious plan of the churchyard suggests a building of considerable antiquity.Helen Sutherland's grave is at the far left-with the triangular top.

Finally let me add that on Sunday 21 July 1935 Helen Sutherland had 17 miners from Ashington to tea. David Jones was assigned to explain the modern paintings. He was apprehensive but soon found out that the miners were, "intelligent & sensitive, 20 times more "aware" than most people one meets".

Some of these miners were part of the group who were later to be known as the "Pitmen Painters".

Also in the churchyard are graves of the Bosanquet family. Of particular note are those of  the archaeologist  and also the university administrator who are also commemorated in Leonard Evett's excellent  window inside the church-from which I reproduce a detail.I have written more about this window in an earlier post in this earlier post.

My review of Thomas Dilworth's new biography of David Jones is to be found in this post.

LIGHT SHIP SMITH'S KNOLL-A FINE WATERCOLOUR BY RICHARD HOBSON

Light Ship Smith's Knoll- Richard Hobson

This large and impressive 1975 watercolour by Richard Hobson was sold by Anderson &Garland in their Newcastle rooms on 21 March 2017. If I remember  rightly the estimate was somewhere near £1000/£1200 . The hammer price was in fact £4000- and well deserved it was.This is surely one of Hobson's finest watercolours- and for that reason is interesting-let alone the unusual subject.

I have added -with apologies to Trinity House-a photograph of the actual lightship which apparently dates from 1972. At the time they were checking out the possibility of a helicopter platform for delivering crew to the lightship.But if the photo is correctly dated 1972 and the watercolour is correctly dated 1975 then what happened to the platform shown at the after end if the vessel-but not in Richard's watercolour? In the watercolour the ship clearly has a mast and not a platform.Was the experiment a failure or is the artwork misdated to 1975when it should be 1972? And this watercolour perhaps shows the ship in dock and ready for maintenance?

Lightship "Smith's Knoll" with helicopter practising  lowering crew members.

CAFE DRAWINGS AGAIN-PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Mother and daughter.

I have posted before about drawing in cafes.You can see some examples here. It is a challenge to draw someone quickly and to get at the essence of a posture before they change it. And they will change it-quite quickly! I think that  practice is helping me get better. Trying to capture this essence  gives you some confidence. I'll give some further thoughts  as we go. My first thought is that maybe a small intimate cafe is not the best place to draw anonymously. The place where I mostly go is quite large and I sit so that I can observe the queue at the counter.So most of my drawings are back or side views but that is fine because  everything helps you to understand the human figure.

 All sorts of people come in, from schoolchildren to an old person who uses a walking/shopping frame with wheels. I have noticed that he must be  a regular because the staff usually look out for him and someone goes to open the door. And if the staff don't notice it is very likely that a customer will. I have sketched this gentleman on occasions because he is a distinctive personality. He will never know that I may do his portrait some day.

You get a lot of families in the cafe: they may  have buggies laden with shopping and maybe they are carrying children. So here follows a selection of drawings of parents with children. At first when I began to draw I didn't visually understand how to describe the way  parents hold their  children or how the children cling sometimes to their parents: but now I think I'm improving. And I have to say that once you build up a schemata-in Gombrich's sense you will be able to refine it as time and practice go on.So here they are. (All on A5 paper)

A mother with her fairly new baby.

Here the child occurs at left and again in its mother's arms.When you look at the child's anatomy on the right you will see that it isn't quite correct and the legs don't quite correspond with the torso. But the drawing does give an impression of  the way a mother has to balance herself while holding her daughter.

Father and daughter

Don't worry about making a finished drawing. Your aim should be to improve your understanding. If your drawing looks good that is an extra to welcome, Your subject will move so don't use your most expensive paper. I sometimes tidy up my work as I go, or perhaps at home. The grey wash is often added later in order  to clarify the forms .