More from Patricia Cook

Artists have come to the Lake District as though drawn by a magnet to its stupendous lake and mountain scenery for almost the last three hundred years (not counting the Bronze Age rock marks that some consider art) and many of these artists have produced the most beautiful drawings and paintings which help to form the body of English Landscape Painting. It is an extraodinary feeling to stand, as near as one can these days, on the spot where Turner painted and try to see the view with his eyes. A scene which has hardly changed from his day.

Even so I still try to paint the view, daunting as it is to have such illustrious examples, and the problems and multitudinous decisions that have to be faced almost certainly are the same as for any other artist who has attempted to portray the scene in front of them. Everyone solves the problems in their own way.

Some of the things that really inspire me are the fall of light on distant fells, wind and sun whipping up the lakes into sparkling wavelets, soft mosses and lichens holding dew drops of moisture, gloomy overhead clouds casting dark shadows over a rocky foreground, snow on the highest mountains with a flat lush valley floor, shapes of animals, often cows of mixed ages and unusual breeds,  in mid-ground in small family groups and then again on the high uplands evenly spaced sheep on their hefted pasture, all in a place where every footstep brings a new view.

In my drawings and paintings I also like to show the hard life here for the people who work the hill farms. The weather plays a big part in making their lives so tough - it can be impossibly wet for days on end, and then impossibly dry as the fells drain quickly with little water for their livestock, it can snow at lambing time and new born calves struggle to keep warm in the early months of the year - but then we also have those balmy golden days when there is nowhere else to be but here. All this variety I try to show in my work.

I live in Patterdale and if you are interested in seeing my paintings and drawings please send me a text message on 07765 260 280 and we can make an appointment