Artwork shows Spirit of Seasons

By Lee Burrows
Northamptonshire artist

A picture of summer by Lee Burrows

Lee Burrows, an artist from Northamptonshire, has captured the essence of the four seasons.

Summer, autumn, winter and spring in the county were his inspiration in his newly completed artwork Spirit of Seasons.

From the fields of Hayfield near Brington and large trees to the vast landscapes of The Ridgeway.

Lee interprets some of Northamptonshire most beautiful places and people to the four seasons.

As a boy, my family moved from Harpole to Cold Ashby to renovate a derelict farm house. The house stood about half a mile outside of the village and from the back door there was nothing but fields and lovely views.

Thinking back to those days now, I believe I must have subconsciously watched the seasons change the landscape and it perhaps sowed the seed that would make me pursue landscape painting later in life.

Landscapes

I concentrated on the landscape at art college in Cheltenham and sold my first painting - the subject being Cleeve Hill - through a small gallery based in Cheltenham.

The owner wrote to explain to me how the lady who brought the painting left the shop hugging the picture with delight.

This made me feel incredibly happy and proud. I now paint from my studio at home which is set in the picturesque village of Harlestone.

My family have lived in these parts from way back and the house we live in belonged to my grandparents.

I paint places all over the country and have taken commissions in Cornwall, South Wales, Richmond Park, Surrey and St Albans, to name a few. But I really began by looking at big skies and the undulating cornfields of Northamptonshire.

Lee Burrows creating his Northamptonshire inspired artwork

You can jump over any hedgerow in the County and find a wonderful view. We have such a contrasting and interesting county with beautiful villages throughout.

Northamptonshire is a very well kept secret, most people fly through it on the motor way and see very little of the jewel that it is.

Big Skies

The Primrose gallery first spotted my big skies and they sold some of my large pieces which encouraged me to paint more. I was drawn to Norfolk and painted the skies there as well as demonstrating painting at Waterperry Art in Action and Childwickbury Art Fair.

These events gave me many more customers and I began to make sales internationally to America, Australia and Europe. Recently I held a show at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery.

I volunteer a day a week helping clients of the Hope Center, Northampton to paint and we decided to have a show.

I painted portraits and the stories I have been told of the lives of the homeless, the prostitutes and the drug addicts and they showed the work they produced within our sessions. The show was a brilliant success but I felt I needed to immerse myself back in landscapes.

Inspiration

Landscapes offer different challenges for a painter: how the sunlight illuminates a field in the distance; how a verge hangs over a farm track or the contrast of sunlight and shade on the boughs of an oak tree, offering different colours of green.

Working out these problems in paint is simply a joy and true therapy! Only on Wednesday, I was painting the view from a small stream near Sulby, commissioned to paint looking back across the fields to the house.

The sun, the lambs and the dandelions were all out, the air smelt wonderful and spring-like.

It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours and I then thought, no matter how complicated we make our lives, the world will keep turning, buds will open to the warmth, birds will sing and nature will carry on regardless.

Seasons

These thoughts inspired me to paint a number of figures for my June show that represent the Seasons. In the past, I have tended to paint my figures as sad or angry. I want these new figures to be optimistic, strong, vibrant and beautiful, portraying the spirit of the Seasons.

These will sit amongst around 25 new paintings of landscapes in Northants, primarily of the scenes near to my home. They range from bridalways covered in un-trodden snow to glorious cornfields in the heat of summer.