River runs through it: Capturing the Esk

When artist John Freeman decided that he would quite like to publish a book, the easy option would have been a retrospective. He has after all been painting for more than a half a century, so there was no shortage of material. In fact he could have filled more than a dozen volumes with his sketches and watercolours of his home town of Whitby alone.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Mar 2016, 09:03 BST
Some of the 60 watercolours to be found in A Meander Down the Esk by Whitby artist John Freeman capturing different seasons of the year.Some of the 60 watercolours to be found in A Meander Down the Esk by Whitby artist John Freeman capturing different seasons of the year.
Some of the 60 watercolours to be found in A Meander Down the Esk by Whitby artist John Freeman capturing different seasons of the year.

“I didn’t want to do that. If I was going to publish a book I wanted it to be a brand new collection,” says John, who in part inspired Ron Thornton’s book on the River Tyne, decided to seek inspiration from a waterway on his own doorstep. The Esk had featured in some of John’s previous work, but when he set out three years ago it was to capture the different character of the river, following it for 28 miles as it wends its way through Glaisdale and Egton Bridge and finally into Whitby itself.

“My plan was always to stick as close to the river as I could and I perhaps foolishly assumed that at least would be easy. However, it quickly became apparent that very little of the Esk is accessible as a public right of way, so it became quite an adventure.”

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While the river’s inaccessibility made John’s project more difficult than he had initially hoped, it also meant that he was rewarded with some rare sights.

Some of the 60 watercolours to be found in A Meander Down the Esk by Whitby artist John Freeman capturing different seasons of the year.Some of the 60 watercolours to be found in A Meander Down the Esk by Whitby artist John Freeman capturing different seasons of the year.
Some of the 60 watercolours to be found in A Meander Down the Esk by Whitby artist John Freeman capturing different seasons of the year.

“There were a few hairy moments. One day I slipped on a rock at Beck Hole and as I landed on all fours in icy water I could only watch on as bubbles began to emerge from the camera. I was Mayor of Whitby at the time and as I drove home wearing only my underpants I could only pray that I wasn’t pulled over. However, for every day like that there were a dozen other happier memories.

“Perhaps most special was one warm October day at Oakley Walls, near Danby, where I happened across the elusive kingfisher sitting on a dead branch hanging over the water. The speed of its dive and return to its perch with its prey was something to behold. It was lightning fast. “

The collection shows the river not only at different times of the day, but also during the different seasons, capturing a range of different scenes from the burning of the heather over the winter on Westerdale Moor to the spring lambs of the Esk Valley.

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“When you paint night-time scenes, you do tend to be guilty of a little romanticism, but this is a place where it is easy to be romantic in,” says John. He began painting as child and explained: “I was severely asthmatic and so I couldn’t play sport, but painting was one thing I was always good at. It’s given me a huge amount of pleasure and the book is one way I can share that joy.”

• A Meander Down the Esk, which features 60 of John’s watercolours and more than 100 drawings, can be ordered via his website at johnfreemanstudio.co.uk

Related topics:John FreemanWhitby