My latest print ‘Le Tour, Ilkley, 2014’ is a rather subversive look at the link between Ilkley and Le Tour, I think. Tyre tracks dominate the Cow & Calf Rocks with a tiny lone cyclist in the bottom right corner. Last year, I completed a large oil painting, on panel, of City Park, Bradford. In a looser style of painting and framed in oak, I think the result captures the carefree feeling of Bradford City Centre on a lovely summer day!
Malham Cove is another large oil, completed at the same time – in fact I have quite a few primed canvases waiting to be painted on at the studio – and have ordered 6 tins of Winsor & Newton Cremnitz white, which should arrive soon. These lead-based paints are like gold dust but they’re worth the money…I continue to mix my own oil paints in all the colours I need, with the exception of white (Flake or Cremnitz). In August 2013, I went on a one-day refresher paint mixing course at the Slade and picked up more useful tips.