I painted this work on Castlerigg, high above Derwentwater near Keswick in the Lake District. What began as a calm morning quickly changed as the wind rose and I found myself working against the elements. The landscape seemed alive, shifting from one moment to the next, resisting any attempt to be neatly captured.
Rather than fighting these conditions, I tried to paint with them. The movement of the wind, the changing light, and the vastness of the fells all became part of the process. Standing exposed on the hillside, I was reminded that painting outdoors is as much an act of attention as it is of observation. The painting became a response not only to the place itself, but to the experience of being present within it.