Blakey Ridge, North York Moors, sketchbook, 2019. © Mari French
I recently spent a week in Rosedale, a beautiful valley in the North York Moors National Park. Although it was intended mainly as a relaxing break (and it was) I also wanted to revisit and spend time sketching the high moorland plateau that inspired me so much back in August last year (see my earlier post ).
On the last visit I’d been attracted to the dramatic ruins of the old ironstone mine workings above Rosedale, resulting in several abstract interpretations that were accepted for the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 2019 at the Mall Galleries, London, four of which are now on show at Bils and Rye, a contemporary gallery in Kirkbymoorside, near Pickering, North Yorkshire.
Rain over Farndale Moor, North York Moors. Sketchbook © Mari French 2019
However, this time I was drawn to the variety of surface texture, linear marks, colour and play of light on the upland plateau itself. Whereas the flowering heather covered the moors in a glorious purple last august, this time the colours were quieter, with striking rectangular patches of burnt heather suggesting possibilities for abstraction. With the stone outcrops, yellow lichen, patches of sienna-coloured soil and the dry vegetation, lit by sun or deep in shadow, I was confronted with an extensive patchwork of textures. Now I need to think how I want to treat these surface impressions back in the studio and where I’m taking them.
Moorland surfaces, Castlerigg, North York Moors. Sketchbook © Mari French 2019
They’ve given me inspiration and a theme for a batch of new canvases that I need to produce for several exhibitions this year, in particular ‘Surface’ exhibition at Gallery East, Woodbridge, Suffolk, in September which will feature contemporary female artists from East Anglia and beyond.
Mari French RI : contemporary artworks 