Song of Silence – Stuart Gray
9 June – 15 August 2021
I began painting this series of pictures last August in response to spending the previous five months exploring Frostow Fell whilst walking our Springer Spaniel, Kim.
Earlier in the year Ruth, my partner, had injured her foot, so it fell to me to take Kim on her morning walk. This corresponded to the first Covid lockdown and a lovely spell of warm sunny weather.
Being on the hills in the early morning you might imagine it to be almost silent, but nothing could be further from the truth; Skylarks, the tiny specks flying above your head with their song so loud and clear are quite magical. The Curlew’s call, with its haunting quality has always been a sound that I’ve associated with the wide-open moorlands.
Other birds join in the chorus and even though I can’t identify all of them, the sound they make is quite wonderful.
During these walks, the idea for an exhibition was born and the results are here for you to enjoy.
I’ve tried to capture the character of each individual bird without being too photographic, allowing colour, shape, light, and shade to describe them. Claude Monet was quoted as saying ‘I would like to paint the way a bird sings.’ Not for one moment do I compare myself to Monet, but I can relate to the sentiment in that sentence.
We are lucky to have such beautiful, peaceful countryside around Sedbergh and we are equally blessed to have these lovely creatures whose voices are so much a part of the peace and stillness found on these gentle hills.
