On the Farm: Painting Life, Character and Connection
“You’d be surprised how often a farmer sees their animals in my paintings and recognises each of them straight away.”
There’s something about painting on a working farm, with its quiet rhythm and daily routine that has passed down through generations. The day is full of moments, some of which are committed to my sketchbook, and others I simply carry with me long after I have left. Strongest amongst them is the shared understanding and connection between farmer and animal, and this is what I aim to capture on canvas.
Cow sketches
More than landscape: a way of life
When people think of farming, they often picture landscapes — green fields, stone walls, distant fells. But for me, rural life is about something more personal. It’s about relationships. Between a shepherd and his dogs. Between the cows that graze the same field year after year. Between people, animals, and place.
Farming is more than a backdrop, it’s a living partnership between humans and animals, shaped by the seasons.
When I paint on the farm, that’s what I bring to life on my canvas. Not just the setting, but the quiet stories unfolding within it.
Character in every animal
Some people are surprised when I say I can recognise individual animals after a few minutes of sketching. But once you sit with them and watch them, I mean really watch them, you do start to recognise their characters. A certain tilt of the head. A bold stance. A moment of mischief or calm.
Sheep have such strong personalities. As do horses, cows, and let’s be honest – most animals. Each one has their own way of being and my life’s work has been to capture that, not in fine detail, but in spirit.
I was really touched one day when a farmer walked into my gallery and said, “You’ve got a painting of Mair in your window”. It was his prized Welsh Black cow that I had painted a few weeks before. He had spotted her in an instant, and I knew I had done my job.
Winter Feeding Time
Quiet moments worth holding onto
These paintings aren’t grand or showy. They’re about the beauty in everyday moments of connection. A dog waiting for a command. A cow nurturing her newborn calf. A flock of sheep following farmer to the feeding trough. These moments often go unnoticed, but they’re full of quiet meaning, and to me they’re as worthy of being painted as any subject.
These moments, these paintings, connect us to something deeper — a respect for work, for care, for rhythm and responsibility.
And that’s something I hope my work can share.