Our Black Combe days
Last updated 05:47, Friday, 19 September 2008
Though they only met a few times, poet Norman Nicholson left a lasting and inspiring impression on Michael Bennett. And more than 30 years after their first meeting, Michael is staging an exhibition dedicated to the Millom poet.
“I only met him on a few occasions and did not know him that well, but I found him a very inspirational person,” explained Michael. “As a person he was very gentle, friendly and wise.”
Titled ‘A gentle tribute to a gentle man’, the exhibition consists of a series of paintings of the brooding mass that is Black Combe, near Millom.
They were sparked by the artist rediscovering a 30-year-old sketchbook filled with drawings of the West Cumbrian landmark made shortly after he met Nicholson.
“I began the series last summer, really just for myself.
“At that time, I did not expect to do more than four or five studies for my own pleasure, but it became a kind of nostalgia trip and I went back to notes I made around the time I knew him and when I worked there.
“It all came back and almost got out of hand – one picture led to another and I finished up with around 20 all together.
“They are all variations on how I saw Black Combe at that time. “I like to paint from memory and out of my head, rather than paint something in front of me.
I thought it was wrong to go back before I finished the paintings, but it would be interesting to go back now that I have finished the series.
“I thought it would be nice to show them as a group, rather than the odd picture.”
Nicholson bought the picture in the early 1970s – shortly after Michael had left his post as a senior lecturer in fine art in Yorkshire to move to Seascale and devote himself to painting.
“He bought the picture from a gallery then wrote to me and described how he was going to hang it and asked if I wanted to go down to Millom and see it,” recalled Michael.
“I had read his poetry and was intrigued to meet someone quite famous who was outside my normal run of acquaintances.
“But he was a charming man who put you at your ease.”
Nicholson’s poetry was known for its clear, direct style and he was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Poetry in 1977. He died in 1987, after living all his life in the terraced house he was born in.
Despite his friendly and charming personality, Nicholson’s taste in art favoured the gloomy.
Richard’s painting was hung between pieces by artists Sheila Fell and Percy Kelly and the poet explained that he preferred black and white paintings to colourful ones.
Richard, who has lived with his artist wife June close to the Solway for the past 30 years, can’t recall exactly the painting Nicholson bought, but he’s sure it was dark picture of a seascape.
“It was either very, very dark tones or actually black and white – a lot of things I was doing then were bleak and dour. The galleries would not take them because they said no one would buy them.”
‘A gentle tribute to a gentle man’ runs at Castlegate House Gallery, Cockermouth, until October 13. Open Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays from 10.30am to 5pm. Visit
www.castlegatehouse.co.uk
