Monk’s House (2025)

Original media: Inks, gouache, acrylics, watercolour, coloured pencil, gold leaf and gold thread.

I’ve long been fascinated by the little houses on the beach between Seahouses and Bamburgh, where Ingram Burn and Clashope Burn join and run across the beach to the sea. I only discovered more about them when searching for a title for this picture. Monk’s House refers to a small parcel of land gifted to the monks on the Farne Islands by Henry II in 1257, for them to cultivate and build a granary. The houses there now date from the 18th Century and once included a pub called St Cuthbert’s Inn. I’ve just always thought how wonderful it would be to stay there, with the beaches empty and the sea coming right up to the door.

This is another Autumn Northumberland walk with my family. We walk from Bamburgh to Seahouses for Fish and Chips, and then back again. The shorter days and the incoming sea meant a bit of a race with the tide and sun going down. As we approached the houses I thought I saw a murmuration. There were two flocks of birds swirling around each other. The light caught the wing tips though and they appeared silver, so they can’t have been starlings (therefore not a murmuration, which is a pity as it’s such a beautiful word). Some kind of seabird I think, but smaller than gulls. I didn’t photograph it as I though it better to just watch. But I planned my picture as soon as I got back to the house.

Available as a signed limited edition print, hand-finished with gold leaf and gold thread. All prints are mounted and can be posted, unless purchased framed.