Staithes - between land, sea and sky

We have just had a lovely visit to the spectacular North Yorkshire coast, staying in the village of Staithes. We were invited by Stef and Ian Mitchell of Staithes Studios to stay for a few days as a 'mini residency' so I could gather inspiration for new paintings for the opening of their gallery on 21st June. The houses in the village are huddled together in two steep valleys running down to the harbour and out of the brisk cliff top winds it was warm and sunny.

Up on the cliffs the sky seemed huge as we walked along the Cleveland Way to Port Mulgrave and clambered down a very steep path to beach comb around a weather beaten shanty town of fishermens' huts.

The sea changed all the time and somehow managed to appear both steely solid and delicately luminous with shifting bands of deep navy blue, sage green, glaucous grey and even dark turquoise. When in the shade the cliffs could be menacingly black but when caught by the sun would light up revealing the complex geology of the area.

photos: Susan Laughton/Ian Turnock