Kate Lycett

That last one was the bad post that I needed to write. I wanted to get it done before going back to the studio on Monday January 6th. For me the new year begins then! My children are rejoicing in the room next door as the first school day back has been declared a snow day! Which means that when I’m back in the mill tomorrow, I will have company. We set up a HUGE scalextric track over the holidays so they’re going to come in for one last play on it before putting it away. I can then reclaim my desks…

Next year, and this feels very risky, I am NOT having an exhibition. After a really busy year of building towards the ‘Engineers & Chocolatiers’ exhibition at Bankfield, I wanted to approach a project differently. Usually I agree a date with a gallery and work backwards from that. This time I wanted to start with an idea and see where it takes me. So…

In July last year, when my family was all away, Daphne (my little car) and I went on a little adventure to Kilburn. This will mark the beginning of two journeys I’d like to complete in 2025:

Me and my lovely running girls ran a section of the Cleveland way in 2023. We ran from Staithes to Scarborough, stopping over night at Boggle Hole. It was beautiful. I’ve always wanted to run the whole 109 mile trail, and this year I plan to do it! I want to run it mostly on my own, with the bare essentials, a sketchbook and a camera. I want to draw on the way round (which is why I’m best on my own) for inspiration for a series of Cleveland Way inspired paintings. Perhaps also to create a book and a map.

I need to work it all out. I might do it in two halves – the inland section and the coastal section. I’m NOT camping!

The Path begins at Helmsley, so while I was away in the summer I stayed the night there. I met several couples, all starting the path. I’ve painted lots of places that are on the Cleveland Way over the years. Here are a few of my favourites:

After the Rain at Rievaulx – Kilburn White Horse

Catch Your Breath – Spindrift – Whitby – Staithes

The path passes the White Horse at Kilburn, which I’d sat and drawn in July. To find the best view I had a nasty encounter with some dogs that chased me into a beautiful meadow. I felt I’d earned the right to a use a little artistic licence and included the meadow in my ‘Summer at Kilburn’ painting:

‘Summer at Kilburn’ – 2024. Inks, acrylics, gouache, watercolour, gold thread and gold leaf.

This marks the start of journey Number 2: to find all the White Horse Hill figures! Well, most of them. For that I’m going to be heading down to Wiltshire (where my parents are) and Oxfordshire, and hopefully exploring them with Daniel in Spring. One of my favourite artists is Eric Ravilious and he painted the South Downs. There is a quiet beauty to his work that I love. I want to find his views.

Kilburn White Horse – Wood Engraving with a little gold leaf. 2024

I know what I’m doing with the Cleveland Way project. I think that’s going to Chantry House Gallery in 2026. As for the White Horses – I’ve no idea! It would be nice to find a gallery outside Yorkshire to take my work; I’m just going to see how it develops.

There! My statement of intentions for 2025. If I’ve said it out loud I HAVE to do at least one. Best start training.