“Sheep In The Wolds”

While there are a lot of crops grown on the Yorkshire Wolds, there is also a lot of live‑stock farming on the tough grass growing in the dales there.

Animals are farmed on the slopes of the valleys, called Dales, winding their way through the huge flat‑topped and rolling hills, distinct to this part of the county.

It's considered upside-down farming. Usually crops are grown in the valleys, while cows and sheep occupy the tops of the hills. The impression you get when driving over the wolds is that there's very few animals and it's inaccurate.

I always think of The Wolds as a particularly British landscape, though this may not be true. The whole area sits on a chalk base, and you can see the chalk in the soil. It looks like a cream dust on ploughed fields when seen from a distance.

The chalk influences the area in lots of ways, especially the approach to farming.

The Yorkshire Wolds has much fascinating terrain for an artist, including many ancient sites – some of which are on my list to paint one day.

This oil painting proved a challenge to photograph. The soft colours of the brightening morning, the contrast between a bright morning sky and darker hills waiting for the sun to rise high enough to light them, challenges a camera.

The time of day is clear from the lights on the car, and a soft creamy glow at the horizon.