Todmorden (2024)

Original media: Inks, gouache, acrylics, watercolour, coloured pencil, gold leaf and gold thread.

Painted for 'Engineers & Chocolatiers' – a solo exhibition to celebrate Calderdale at Bankfield Museum, 2024.

I love Todmorden – I go there often, either along the tow path or running the Calderdale Way from Cragg Vale and dropping down past the Unitarian Church at Honey Hole. I’ve tried to get as many buildings as I can into one picture. The centre of Todmorden seems to be the Town Hall and St Mary’s Church. The busy market building, the stripy stalls behind, and the arches of the railway bridge behind that. Todmorden Library is opposite Water Street. Artistic licence allowed me to move the legendary Golden Lion (not yellow for this painting) to face the canal along the bottom. The Unitarian Church and Stoodley Pike stack up into the hills behind. Notable omissions are Tod Park (where the twins learned to ride their bikes), The Fielden Centre (where Hattie had her 5th Birthday Party) and Dobroyd Castle. I couldn’t make them fit. You’ll have to imagine them beyond the trees.

Available as a signed limited edition print, hand-finished with gold leaf and gold thread. All prints are mounted and can be posted, unless purchased framed.