Kate Lycett

I was thrilled last year when Shibden Hall commissioned a painting for their entrance hall. It’s rare for me to go there without the children, and therefore the pull of the boating lake or the playground. I went in August while they were staying with Granny down in Wiltshire.

I played around with two compositions. There’s a lovely view from the orchard above – a birds eye view. Or the view from the lake below, looking up at the house…

The Hall requested the second one. The hall is like a treasure trove of beautiful details! There is a window in the main hall with stained glass fragments salvaged from another local house. I love the creatures; I’d love to know more about the symbolism. They remind me of the pagan creatures often found on Misericords in churches; they were an obsession of mine when I was a student.

Pattern is everywhere in the hall…

The tiles at the bottom of the picture gave me a place for my treasure.

So here it is, work in progress…

Special requests to be included were: The Lister Lion. The Lister coat of arms. The stained glass creatures. And lastly, the dove and the crow to represent Ann Walker and Anne Lister.

I have yet to proof it for colour for prints, but when i do these should be available as hand finished prints at the hall. Then it’s framing and hanging! I’ll post a photo once it’s up.