“Bamburgh Beach holds a very special place in my heart – I have memories of visiting from Teesside when I was very young, and my dad showing me the mysterious white stag painted on the rocks there. Since my move to Northumberland twenty years ago it has become part of the fabric of my life. Myself and my husband spent the first few hours of the new millennium on the beach, and it’s not possible for me to eat Seahouses fish and chips anywhere else.
Bamburgh Castle itself still takes my breath away a little bit, even after all these years.
It has everything I love to draw, and I’ve painted it often. But this time I wanted to capture a particular feeling I have when I’m there on the beach in the early evening and it’s all quiet. That sense of peace that sometimes comes at the end of a perfect day…
So I knew I wanted warm, soft tones, gentle reflections, the ripples on the sand after the tide has gone out, and two oystercatchers to add life to the foreground (I love painting oystercatchers, they are the smartest waders).
I wanted the eye to meander through the painting and settle on Bamburgh Castle in all its glory, soaking up the last of the sun’s rays.
My paintings look quite quick and simple but they can take me ages! The first three versions went in the bin – the colours just weren’t right, but on the fourth attempt I was happy, and it’s now one of my favourites.”
See Bamburgh Golden Hour by Sarah Farooqi
See more artwork by Sarah Farooqi