ABOUT
HELLO, I'M LUCIA, AND I PAINT THE YORKSHIRE DALES IN THE GORGEOUS MEDIUM OF SOFT PASTELS...
Wow: the Dales. How lucky I am to live and work here.
The moors and valleys have a timelessness, a hugeness, a reassuring solidity. Time spent walking here seems to rebalance and rejuvenate; it is the only place I know where I can be simultaneously soothed and uplifted.
I seek the essence of each location, choosing light and shadow to pin down the feeling of being there. Although the result is a static painting, I work hard to offer movement in a scene. Hard and soft edges of colour suggest that the wind is blowing, the clouds and shadows are about to move, and the view holds our gaze as we wait for the scene to entertain us.
In this crazy, busy, complicated, often exhausting world, the Dales and the Moors are a place to be, a place to look, a place to breathe. I hope to share a taste of this, available to view in a painting on a wall.
I can hardly believe I’ve done it! I’ve painted ALL the named Dales in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Seeds of the idea were sown in 2016, developed in 2017, really took hold in 2018….
You can read about my journey in my website Blog and see all the images on the page below!
ALL THE NAMED DALES: THE QUEST
ALL the named Dales of the Yorkshire Dales National Park!! Yes! ALL OF THEM!
A few years ago I set out to visit and explore every named Dale in our beautiful National Park, soaking in the unique character of each Dale to capture in a painting. Some of my paintings are huge, some very small, some simply focus on beautiful stone walls and the stiles I climbed over, or pools of water, or expanses of moor. Some offer the whole vista! Each one shares my joy of these wonderful places.
The YDNP Rangers supplied a list: there were 45, with 4 more added in 2016 when the Park expanded. It is true that these four are called Valleys, not Dales, but this is only due to local dialect and they are iconic in the north western area, so I added them to my QUEST list. So a grand total of 49.
It’s been challenging for both for my walking boots and my soft pastels, but it’s been eye-opening. You can follow my journey via my website Blog: I’ve had lots of adventures and found some stunning places. Cut off Dales, abandoned Dales, tributaries that are connected underground, majestic contours, wide open moorlands. I’ve found out so much along the way: Apedale has nothing to do with monkeys, Kingsdale has nothing to do with Kings. Great Sled Dale and Little Sled Dale are actually miles from Sleddale itself! I’ve also experimented artistically: mixed media, softer colours, bolder colours.
The journey is now complete! It turned out that the one I saved until last, Wensleydale, needed more than one painting to capture all her character; so I wallowed there for a while, simply enjoying the place and creating four very different paintings in a final very enjoyable series.
So in all, 52 paintings of 49 Dales. Many of the original paintings have already sold, some of the more recent ones are still available. All of them are available in some physical form; the list below the images explains how.
The question is: how many do you know?
49 Dales…. tributaries in brackets (as supplied to me by YDNP rangers)
AIREDALE (Malhamdale); WHARFEDALE (Dibb Dale, Washburndale, Mossdale, Littondale, Langstrothdale); NIDDERDALE; WENSLEYDALE (Colsterdale, Coverdale, Apedale, Waldendale, Bishopdale, Raydale, Cragdale, Bardale, Sleddale, Fossdale, Widdale, Cotterdale); SWALEDALE (Arkengarthdale, Arndale, Birkdale, Uldale, Little Sled Dale, Great Sled Dale, East Stonesdale, Moresdale, Skegdale, West Stonedale, Whitsundale; RIBBLESDALE (Silverdale); CRUMMACKDALE; UPPER LONSDALE (Kingsdale, Doedale); BARBONDALE, DENTDALE (Deepdale); GARSDALE (Grisedale); EDEN VALLEY; MALLERSTANG VALLEY; LUNE VALLEY; RAWTHEY VALLEY
Images available as follows:
MINI-PRINTS: all of my QUEST paintings are available as A4 size mini-prints!
ORIGINAL PAINTINGS: all of the QUEST Original paintings have sold
FINE ART PRINTS: some (please note: not all!) of the QUEST images are available as large size FINE ART PRINTS: Airedale, Wharfedale, Raydale, Swaledale, Silverdale, Kingsdale, Mallerstang Valley, Malhamdale, Wensleydale
GREETINGS CARDS: Washburndale, Nidderdale, Colsterdale, Waldendale, Bishopdale, Swaledale, East Stonesdale, West Stonesdale, Malhamdale
As I carefully and slowly downsize my practice, my remaining Original works are getting snapped up!
If you would like to view one of paintings still available please contact me asap. I will delighted to hear from you and will be happy to give you details about dimensions, framing and prices.
(My originals are generally priced between £700 - £1300, depending on size)
…but what are those weird looking painted patterns? They are my new CONTOUR MAPS of the Yorkshire Three Peaks. With carfeul, accurate drawing of their contours - these are a different momento! Perhaps a nudge for us to respect and care for the land. The original paintings are currently available £300 - £400, or all three for £800. (Also available as fine art prints)
BESPOKE FINE ART PRINTS
My fine art print series are special – created in BESPOKE SIZES to suit your home - most are in ‘very limiited’ series of just 16, Printed on museum-quality fine art paper (framed behind glass to your taste); or on box canvas for a more contemporary look.
Each print is hand-signed and comes with a personal message from me about the scene, my inspiration and the circumstances of the original painting.
Print prices mainly depend on size, with unframed prints typically priced between £210 - £250 and framed prints between £350 - £390. The Cow and Calf HOMELANDS series are a bit different: they are available in an unlimited mini-print size as well as larger sizes, with prices starting from just £44.
If you have any queries at all, please contact me.
TECHNIQUES
I draw my inspiration from the lofty Yorkshire Moors and the stunning Yorkshire skies - usually on a ramble with family and friends. They have learnt to be patient when I suddenly see something that I need to capture, either with my sketch pad or the camera!
Soft pastels are my key medium; I savour their vibrancy and immediacy. I start by carefully planning my composition, pinning down my vision, rythmn and colour pallette for the painting. I choose quality mount board or heavy watercolour paper, and once the composition has been sketched to size, I cover the entire surface with an under-painting coat of acrylic or watercolour, which broadly defines the painting and gets rid of the distracting whiteness! This is then primed to improve the grip and grit of the surface.
I build up the soft pastel in layers – with some blending, some crisp edges, some textured areas, some areas heavy with pure pastel vibrancy. This gritty surface is not kind on my fingers, so the process has an oscillating rhythm and cannot be rushed! I am therefore not prolific... but this allows me more time to go walking... a superb balance of inspiration and creation.
places to see mE and my work in 2024…
I love having my work on show deep in the Yorkshire Dales, at the beautiful THE OLD SCHOOL GALLERY in Muker in Swaledale. They have some of my newest originals (at the moment of Swaledale), as well as my framed fine art prints of many other Dales. it’s a wonderful place to visit: follow the link for more details of how to get there!
Other original work is available to view privately - please contact me to arrange viewings at my home studio in Ilkley, or perhaps in your own home if you would prefer? Check my Originals page to see what is available.
Ilkley framers WEAVERBIRD WORKSHOP always have a full range of my fine art prints available, as well as my affordable mini-prints. Visit for a friendly welcome and expert framing advice as well! Weaverbird Workshop at 6 Wells Rd, Ilkley LS29 9JD
I also have a range of greetings cards! These are available at the Yorkshire Dales National Park shops in Grassington, Asygarth, Hawes and Malham. Find out lots more about the National Park here: YDNP
My greetings cards are also available in Ilkley at the Dalesway Gallery, South Hawksworth St on the central carpark - a beautiful shop to visit whatever card you’re searching for.
You can also follow me digitally:
Look out for my BLOG, or catch up with me on Facebook 'LUCIA SMITH ARTIST' and instagram ‘lucia_smith_artist’
