Summer in the Studio — June Update from North Yorkshire

There's something about June in North Yorkshire that makes everything feel possible.

The light changes. It comes in lower and longer in the evenings, and by seven o'clock the moors are doing something extraordinary — that warm, amber-gold that you only get in the north of England in summer. I've been trying to catch it — This is in contrast to my winter output of monochrome grey paintings which are inspired by the Lake District in Cumbria — I'm not sure I've managed to capture the summer warmth yet, but I'm trying. 

The studio has been busy. After a quieter spell in spring — lots of thinking, lots of sketching, not much finishing — the last few weeks have felt like a turning point. There are three new canvases on the go right now, and for the first time in a while, I feel genuinely excited about where they're heading.

What I'm Working On

Two of the pieces are crowd scenes — no surprise there. One is set in what I can only describe as a festival crowd: loose, fast brushwork, high contrast, lots of movement. The figures are barely resolved, which is exactly how I want them. The tension between what's suggested and what's left out is where the energy lives in these paintings.

The third piece is something a little different. It's a landscape — a wide, open moorland view with a sky that's been giving me trouble in the best possible way. I keep repainting the upper third. I think I'm nearly there.

I'll be sharing proper photographs of all three as they near completion, so if you're not already on the mailing list, it's worth signing up — that's where new work tends to land first.

Summer and the Studio Rhythm

People often ask whether summer changes how I work. Honestly, yes — but not always in the ways you'd expect.

The longer days mean I can paint later into the evening, which suits me. The light in the studio at 8pm in June is different from anything you get in winter — softer, more diffuse, and it does something interesting to how I read colour on the canvas. I tend to do my most instinctive work in those warm evening sessions.

What summer also brings is a different kind of visitor to the studio. People are travelling, exploring, and — I think — more open to the idea of buying original art. There's something about being on holiday, or just being out of your usual routine, that makes people look at things differently. I've had some wonderful conversations with people who've come to see the work in person over the past few weeks.

If you're in North Yorkshire this summer and you'd like to visit the studio, do get in touch. I'm always happy to show work in progress and talk about the paintings, if I am not on one of my painting excursions.

On Collecting Original Art

Summer is traditionally a strong time for people thinking about their homes — redecorating, refreshing a room, finally making a decision about that wall that's been blank for two years. If that sounds familiar, I wrote a piece earlier this year on how to choose the right original painting for your home that might be worth a read.

The short version: trust your instincts, buy what moves you, and don't overthink the size until you've lived with the idea for a week.

What's Coming Next

I'm hoping to have at least one of the new pieces ready to share properly within the next few weeks. In the meantime, you can see the current available work in the originals collection — and if there's a subject or scale you've been thinking about, commissions are open. More on that here.

Thanks for following along. More soon.

— Neil