AN internationally acclaimed artist is revisiting his childhood roots as his latest work celebrating the history and heritage of the "journeys of hope" undertaken by the old Yorkshire Dales sheep drovers goes on display in Hawes.

Riggs Moor by Jonathan Middlemiss
Photo: Jonathan Middlemiss

The Dales Countryside Museum is playing host to the exhibition of paintings by local artist Jonathan Middlemiss.

Many of the green lanes that criss-cross the Yorkshire Dales began as drovers roads, used by shepherds of old to "drive" their flock to market. Called 'The Drover's Path', the work captures his love of the Dales landscape and this unique feature within it.

Jonathan said: "I grew up on a farm in a beautiful part of Yorkshire and as a child who didn't go to school until I was twelve, created a strong mythic and imaginary relationship with the elements and energies of the landscape.

"I see this as a foundation for my creative work and as the same awareness that is increasingly respected in the wisdom of the indigenous peoples of the world.

"My father took sheep to markets at Kilnsey and Kettlewell, taking them out through the top moor of our land and along the old drover's paths.

"As a young boy I was unable to accompany him and where he went remained a mystery for a long time.

...as an artist I have been aware of the roots that I have in that farm and the natural wildness of the Dales

Jonathan Middlemiss - Artist

"Throughout my career as an artist I have been aware of the roots that I have in that farm and the natural wildness of the Dales."

Jonathan made his living from pottery and individual ceramic vessels and sculpture for more than 30 years and examples of his work can now been seen in public collections and museums in Britain, Europe and the Far East.

The collection arises from a walk that Jonathan made throughout the summer of 2006; he continued: "Walking the path my father drove flocks of sheep to market from our farm in Nidderdale was the inspiration for these paintings.

"It must have been a journey of hope across a hard land in all weathers. The path crosses upland pastures and over wild windswept peat and heather moors where raw earth often touches the sky, before descending to more gentle wall-defined land in Wharfedale.

"I find both hope and solace in such natural wilderness where the profound glory of the earth's spirit can be absorbed."

• The exhibition runs at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Museum until October 18 and entry is free.

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