Forgotten Islands "When
we had just moved to Church Stretton in Shropshire to set up the new
studio Peter by chance overheard a conversation in a Church Stretton
Tea Room between the proprietor and a visiting geologist and was
puzzled to hear the Stretton Hills referred to by the proprietor as
”The Islands” and further research uncovered the roots of this puzzling
mystery."By : Deborah Susan Jones : EditorThe
famous iconic Shropshire Hills, The Wrekin, The Lawley and Caer Caradoc
in Church Stretton were formed in the Pre-Cambrian Uriconium era from
the Church Stretton Fault over an immense period of prehistoric time.Tens
of millions of years passed and extensive sedimentation and there is
evidence to show that the area spent periods both above and below sea
level and the Longmynd is formed by fine desert Sandstones, fine gravel
shales and coarse conglomerates.
In short, Church Stretton is situated on an ancient sea bed!Peter
Andrew Jones Paintings of Church Stretton BookThere are several
paintings of Peter's that feature Caer Caradoc, one appearing on the
cover of the book "PAINTINGS OF CHURCH STRETTON" and another appearing
in the book "PAINTINGS OF SOUTH SHROPSHIRE" which appears at the head
of this page.These
immensely popular pocket-sized books contain some of the most iconic of
Peter's paintings portraying the Church Stretton area and are
collector's treasures. Ever-popular
with hill walkers, both amateur and committed and visitors from urban
areas, the area of course, with the ever-changing seasons and weather
that changes almost day to day, make the creative challenge of reacting
to this amazing landscape and portraying it a subject impossible to
exhaust.
Running
alongside the town of Church Stretton and the village of All Stretton
looking along the Church Stretton gap also affords a view northerly of
The Wrekin and more easterly, Wenlock Edge. Turn around 180 degrees and
you can see The Longmynd.A
British Iron Age or late Bronze Age hill fort sits on the summit of
Caer Caradoc which is Welsh and pronounced "Caradoc" and legend has it
that this was the site of the last stand of British King Caractacus
against the mighty Legions of Rome during their reign in Britain, and
that after the battle he was carried off to Rome to be executed but
that the Romans were so impressed with his spirit that he was returned
to Britain as a Roman consul. But then, there are SO many stories . . .
. .It
is also legend that says that Merlin, after the fall of Arthur on the
Field of Camlan, retired to a cave on Caer Caradoc and that he is still
there, walled up inside, and that you can still hear him wailing . . .
. . . . . but again, there are so many Myths and Legends that abound in
the area.
The
painting is one of a number of the famous Shropshire Hills, in an area
described as "an area of outstanding natural beauty" and they get
perhaps more publicity than some other hills in the area and yet those
too are of interest, especially to an Artist, and Clee Hill on the
outskirts of Ludlow is perhaps bleaker in appearance but has much to
inspire an artist, especially its wildlife and it features in another
book of Peter's "PAINTINGS OF LUDLOW" and all these paintings of
Shropshire and the Shropshire hills form part of an extensive body of
work inspired by the contrast that a rural area provides the Artist
compared with an urban environment that the Artist lived in before
moving to the countryside. The variety of colours, textures, shapes and
even sounds that the two environments offer, a constant reminder, that
"there is much to paint". Peter
Andrew Jones Paintings of The Stiperstones Book Whilst undeniably the
countryside of Shropshire is "pretty" and "beautiful" in parts, other
places have an entirely different kind of beauty, raw, passionate,
bleak, stormy, dark and brooding, inhospitable, so many descriptions
one could make and yet, for all that, incontrovertibly places that draw
visitors. And Artists. Because they are just SO special and certainly
offering up scenes that stir the Artist to not only paint, but publish
both luxury handmade books, luxury multimedia editions that are
certainly the most commercially successful in the area and greetings
cards that offer a full range of visual reportage and chronicle those
special little corners and places not usually portrayed on other mass
market cards.Truly unique Art.By : Deborah Susan Jones : Editor
