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Final Snow (Caer Caradoc hill, Shropshire)
(From the book "Paintings of Church Stretton")One of the very first, if not the
first, landscape paining the artist did . . . . . . .By : Deborah Susan Jones : Editor“Mysterious, oft-shrouded in mist,
cloud-shadows prowl its surface, light embosses its surface; colours
are fluid.The
view from Rectory Fields, spring already bursting forth and yet a last
flurry of snow carpets the ground, melting almost within the day,
sparse patches of white the only testimony to a last sudden cold snap
before the onward march to summer.Peter moved to Shropshire to paint
the the myths and legends of
England and Wales
which are at the very roots of what contemporary fantasy art is made
of. Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, Fighting Fantasy, Lone
Wolf, Harry Potter, it's all rooted, one way or another, in the deeply
fantastical legends of middle England, Mercia, The Welsh and English
Marches land as he soon discovered, it's wildlife and landscape.He
says "you soon discover that you cannot really separate the people of
the myths from the landscape or wildlife because so often they are
deeply entwined, even a witch's spell, her cauldron brew, has
ingredients from the flora of the area, weapons and clothing are rooted
in the industries and raw materials of the area and battles are, of
course, associated with places, hill forts, rivers, lakes, it's all
inter-related".Indeed,
Caer Caradoc (pronounced "care carrad-ock") has a hill fort, and was
the place where The Battle of Caer Caradoc was fought, Caratacus's
final resistance to Roman rule in year 50The artist's research for his Simulacra project shows
Caractacus probably drew troops from the Cornovi, Ordovices and Silures
tribes and of course the hill, the river in front (The River Teme) and
what is now the Church Stretton Valley all played their part in what
was a historical battle and the type of scene pastiched in so many a
Hollywood movie, Pagan type warriors with swords and axes and metal
bound wooden shields fighting Roman conquerers - visually, at least,
the stuff of so many modern fantasy stories, surely?Add-in
the stories in the area of Merlin, King Arthur, Fairy Queens, Witches,
Giants . . . . . the list is long and varied, and these characters all
have relationships with the land and its wildlife.Deborah Susan Jones : Editor
