"It's impossible to paint
unless you're in the right atmosphere. English scenery is getting spoilt
and vulgarised to such a degree that there'll soon be none of it left to
sketch. Where are the beautiful villages of thirty years ago? Gone--most
of them! The thatched roofs replaced by corrugated iron, and the hedges
clipped close to please the motorists. I defy anybody to make a
successful picture out of a clipped hedge! Even the gnarled apple trees
are being cut down and replaced by market gardeners' 'choice saplings.'
Picturesque England will soon be a thing of the past! I consider
Chagmouth one of the last strongholds for an artist, and I'm going to
live here as long as it remains unspoilt. There's enough work to keep me
busy for several years at any rate."
It is part of an artist's business to move about from place to place in
quest of fresh subjects. Mr. Castleton had spent some years at
Porthkeverne, and having, from a professional point of view, exhausted
that neighbourhood, he had transferred himself and his family to a new
horizon.
Pages:
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72