by Steve Empson | Jul 23, 2020
I am a painter of place, and through a series of largely mixed media compositions, I attempted to express something of what it means to me, to know a place ‘at the edge’. The resulting paintings can be seen in Gallery 2 I observed two communities: Seal Sands (Greatham...
by Steve Empson | Apr 2, 2015
On North Yorkshire’s Jurassic coast, where Roxby Beck meets the North Sea, there is just enough space to squeeze in a landing place. The Old Norse word ‘stoth’, means a wharf, but in the North East of England, under Danelaw, the word in common usage was ‘staithe’, and...
by Steve Empson | Jun 17, 2014
I stepped down from the ‘United’ bus at a junction on the main Redcar to Whitby road, and found myself on the edge of a small estate of unprepossessing council houses. Feeling underwhelmed at the climax of my journey, my 12 year-old legs dawdled 300 yards further, and...
by Steve Empson | May 5, 2014
Looking at paintings, people often seem to want an answer to the question, “How long did it take you to do that?” It’s difficult to offer a reply. I can work out the hours I spend in the studio at an easel, applying media to a surface, but that would only...
by Steve Empson | Mar 15, 2014
Just 4 miles to the north of Hartlepool lies the former colliery village of Blackhall and Blackhall Rocks, at the southern extent of the Northumberland and Durham coalfield, and what a place it is! In my initial blog I said that the sort of places I painted were not...
