Meet the artists: Alex Jakob-Whitworth

We asked each of the artists involved in the North Pennines Art Week about their work and what inspires them. Here’s what Alex Jakob-Whitworth, who is based in the the Eden Valley, had to say.

How did you get into art?

I have always drawn. I was lucky enough that all the arts were encouraged in my household and was a strong part of the school system in Leicestershire when I was there. I studied Fine Art at university, qualified as an art teacher, then took an MA in Art and Psychotherapy in the mid-nineties. Since the birth of my second child I have been self-employed as an artist. In short – I just love to draw, paint and make things. In particular – using those skills to reinvent, reimagine and interpret the world around me. I also like the way art can speak, without words. We can often say something with images that we cannot with words.

What do you find inspiring about working in the North Pennines?

The shapes and the moods, the colours and the lies of the fells – these all fascinate me. I also am interested in the agri-industrial past that this area holds. We can walk up a fell and see evidence of previous workings and industry – now grown over and part of the landscape. I like those echoes of times past – which can remind us how we need to look after the land and protect it.

The unique varieties of fauna and flora in the North Pennines also appeal – I like to focus in and study what I see, recording through drawing. It is a good discipline, to practise observation of something quite small and complex such as a particular flower, or pollinator, and to begin to understand it more, by describing it through making marks on paper (drawing can be much more than just using a pencil).

The diversity of place and space in the North Pennines give me much material to work from –the wildness of winter, the gold and richness of summer, and the softer colours in autumn and spring – all these inspire me, as well as the unspoilt landscape, the far-reaching dramatic skies, the tumbling stone walls and the wide-reaching shapes of the sweeping fells. It is a landscape like no other.

What are your favourite places to work?

I enjoy a wide variety of places – the North Pennines attract me as I have lived and worked amongst them for over 18 years and feel I am familiar with all their moods. The wildness of wide spaces is exciting – but I also like to find those moments of light – in particular, maybe something just on the horizon, and the edges – where agriculture meets “wilderness”. I love paths and tracks, wanting to know where they might take us; I like to include them in my work. So that we can be taken into a piece, each painting is more a sense of travelling through a landscape, rather a view from a certain spot.

What would be your top tip for anyone just getting started with art?

Spend time looking at other people’s work – working out what it is specifically that you like about it – then biggest top tip – practise and practise and practise your drawing!

Anything else you’d like to tell us about?

In 2018, I was interested in how reading the writings of Dorothy Wordsworth might influence my painting. I worked with the Wordsworth Trust on their ‘This Girl Did’ project on women and mountaineering. I dressed as Dorothy and spent time walking her walks, culminating in an ascent of Scafell Pike 200 years to the hour after she herself did, in the company of her friend Mary Barker, a maid, a shepherd and a porter. The account of that day was made into a film by Jago Miller and Richard Berry– called “JourneyWoman – in the Footsteps of Dorothy Wordsworth” – you can find it on YouTube – and also see some of the paintings I made as a result.

There will be some works on show at Space2Creat in Kendal over the weekend of September 25/26, and in October there will be some works at the EVAN gallery – a result of the NPAONB painting days.

Find out more on Alex’s website: alexjakobwhitworth.co.uk

Alex is out and about at Talkin Tarn Country Park on 31 July-1 August and 5, 8 & 9 August, and giving an online evening draw-along workshop on Thursday 5 August.