It's not a barge, it's a narrow boat!

One of the things I'm enjoying most about living in Diggle is the proximity of the Huddersfield Canal. Just down the lane is the point where it disappears into Standedge Tunnel, the longest and highest canal tunnel in the UK, which leads through the Pennines to Marsden and on to Huddersfield.

From Diggle it's a pleasant two-mile walk along the towpath to Uppermill. At this time of year the banks and hedgerows are bright with wild flowers - magenta and white foxgloves, yarrow and dog-rose. And everywhere, so much green, the emerald green of early summer, mirrored in the peat-dark waters of the canal.

There wasn't much call for green in my French sketches and I'm having to adapt my colours to the new environment. Ready-mixed greens like Sap Green and Viridian were long ago banished from my palette and I've been experimenting with different combinations: Lemon Yellow with varying amounts of French Ultramarine gives a nice fresh spring green and I add my old favourite, Paynes Grey, for a really deep, dark shade - as here for the shadows under the bridge.

I sketched this scene on the towpath in Uppermill. As a linguist, I'm always keen to use the right terminology, so was pleased to learn from a boat owner the other day that these vessels are not called barges but narrow boats. So there you go.

Red Lane Farm

This is the view from the little window next to my desk, up the lane to Red Lane Farm. The challenge for me in painting these Yorkshire stone cottages is the lack of contrast in the colours. Some have slate roofs but many have tiles made of stone that's the same tone as the walls. Fortunately there was a bright blue tarpaulin next to the house to break up the monotony and two big copper beeches on the hill behind to punctuate the mass of green all around.

Back up North

After ten years living in southern France, I find myself back in Saddleworth where I grew up. The change from an artistic point of view is quite drastic. The light and colours, the landscape and architecture are all different. The bright light and warm tones of the south have given way to cooler greens, greys and browns. The familiar terracotta roof tiles, colourful shutters and red earth of my French sketches are being replaced by dark stone buildings and green... so much green all around. 

Saddleworth is a rural community located in the old West Riding of Yorkshire, although, confusingly, it is actually administered by Oldham, which is in Lancashire, or is it Greater Manchester...? No one really knows. The architecture, however, is quintessentially Yorkshire. The traditional houses are three-storey weaver's cottages built of millstone grit, which is a light sandy colour when first cut, darkening to greyish black over time. The most distinctive feature of these houses is the mullioned windows - rows of narrow panes separated by stone pillars - which, I discovered, are a pain to draw! 

To start off my new blog, here's a sketch of our new home in Diggle - a cottage occupying part of a stone farmhouse on the side of Lark Hill.