We were delighted when we received these images and a blog post from Beacons artist Alasdair McDougal. You can see more of his work at https://www.beaconsart.com/?
The Brecon Beacons is a line of hills that run east-west, formed over geological time through massive tectonic pressures pushing what were flat seabeds up into these great hills, which have been shaped and gouged by glaciers kilometres thick and the floodwaters that followed. This makes the dramatic background where the sunlight casts ever-changing shadows - light and dark sweep across the broad horizons.
Painting all this is great - there are different views wherever you look, but the subject never stands still!.!
Painting on canvas has its challenges when the wind blows! It's like a sail. I have had to tie it down with rocks to stop it from flying away. But on this occasion, the sky got darker and darker then there was the dreaded 'rumble of thunder' (that phrase so loved by the weather forecasters) - my easel is metal, the rain made everything wet, not good to be there in lightning, I came down a lot faster than I went up.
Over the years I have searched for the best views. I don't think you can beat looking across the central Beacons from Fan y Big, which is one I have painted in the early morning, in the evening, and all through the day in winter, summer, spring and autumn - it is the basis of the Group logo I drew some years ago..
But some of the best views are OF the hills rather then from them - looking north from Pontsiscilli (which I can never spell), or south from the trig point at Pen y Crug outside Brecon.
Good luck with the website.Alastair McDougall
