“Toward The Castle”

Perhaps its appeal stays fresh because I don't get to go as often as I'd like. I had the good fortune to secure another week's painting holiday, at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, in 2019. My last trip was three years before, in 2016.

The excitement of returning to this striking location was enough on its own. Add new outdoor painting kit I'd not owned the last time I visited, and I was fit to burst with anticipation when I set off.

This oil painting was made on the first day there. The castle silhouette towers over the sun washed beach. The fortress is often a shadowed profile against a sunlit sky when viewed from the North like this.

The sun always seems to catch the white top of the remainder of a windmill, built within the castle's grounds. The white cap often stands out, along with a particular window high in the main tower, that glints with reflected light.

I always love the way the castle hugs the contour of its mound. It seems to tumble toward the beach, especially from this angle.

This view from up the beach toward Budle Bay is the most iconic in my view. No wonder so many photographers and artists have photographed and painted it.

I set my plein-air easel up on the edge of the dunes, slightly elevated above the beach. Though the weather was not the warmest, I'd found an idyllic sunny spot nestled between mounds of dune grass.

The beach spread out in front of me, the grasses gently swayed and the sound of the sea drifted with the breeze – a magical landscape if ever there was.