The works brought together for this exhibition are mainly of the landscape around the Malvern Hills where I live. The one exception is Gascony Pastoral, a distant view of the ancient hilltop town of Lectoure, between Bordeaux and Toulouse. The fertile rolling country and the ripening corn reminded me of the idealised landscape paintings of Claude Lorrain.
This is a summer exhibition but there are works from all seasons of the year. I respond to the changing light, weather and mood in the landscape as the year turns. March Pruning with the Japanese Ladder is a painting of our orchard just over the county border in Herefordshire. There are wonderful views from there of the western slopes of the Malvern's, North Hill and the Worcester Beacon. Looking towards Bredon Hill from the Roof Terrace is an attempt to capture the panoramic view east from our house in Great Malvern, from which we can see across the Severn plain to the Cotswolds and beyond.
Bridget Macdonald
Malvern
July 2024
