Rosebay Willowherb flowering in Thixendale, 3 x 2 feet.

I set off with an idea to sketch and took my A4 landscape sketchbook. Finding myself exploring the Wolds near Gills Farm I could see Thixen-Dale below me, stopping, I examined several views, I could see minor Dales branched off the main Thixen Dale valley. I was not exercised to sketch here so drove down the steep hill to the Fotherdale road which leads to Robert Fullers Gallery. I spotted some tall rose-bay willow-herb, it was going to seed looking rather dramatic against darker tree foilage. It would make a nice study and I intended to paint this rather loose, more suggestive than routinely accurate. With this in mind I set up a large 3x2 feet canvas and began laying out the painting focusing on the rose-bay willowherb.