Author: Chris Hughes

When the west winds blow hard the rough sea and the wild sky merge into one confused but beautiful scene.

This is a ‘work in progress’, a more distant view of the fields of ripe oil seed rape growing on Halsall Moss. I need to live with this for a few days before making further progress.

Two pastel drawings of wildflowers growing along the edge of the corn fields on Halsall Moss.

£75 each

Living on the west coast gives us the wonderful spectacle of the sunset, often totally hidden by banks of grey cloud but frequently exploding with colours, the reds, oranges and yellows contrasting sharply with the deep indigo and sky blues that gradually come to dominate the scene as the sun disappears below the far horizon.

All visions from memory of places visited.

I return time and time again to the view from the beach – at Ainsdale, Birkdale or Southport – enjoying the changes brought about by the weather. The stillness when the wind is quiet and the sea ebbs and flows seemingly without moving to the violent crashing waves driven on shore by the force 8 westerly gales.

Crosby beach is home to the Anthony Gormley sculpture ‘Another Place’ and has become a extremely popular place to walk. When the westerly gales blow the place is full of drama.

Much more realistic than my later landscapes these are two drawings from some years ago.

A dreamlike version of the landscapes seen in the mountain regions of the north-west of the UK.

Four portrait format landscapes. I enjoy trying to distil the features of a landscape into the fundamental shapes and colours of the scene. The coastal and low lying mosses provide a landscape of the  Ainsdale area  always provide good subjects for this approach as the features are large and can be seen in layers.