Ashley Jackson : Portrait of a lifelong passion for the Yorkshire moors

Ashley Jackson is celebrating his 70th birthday with an exhibition in London in support of The Prince's Trust. He talked to Chris Bond.

WHEN Ashley Jackson held his first exhibition at London's Mall Galleries, it was the early 1970s and Britain was in the grip of strikes and power cuts.

"Edward Heath was Prime Minister and we had the three-day week. The lights only came on in the gallery for two hours a day and I remember saying, 'If I can sell my paintings in the dark, just wait till people see them with the lights on'," the affable artist says.

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Since then, he has established himself as one of Britain's foremost watercolour artists, and next month he is returning to the galleries, close to Admiralty House, with a special exhibition to mark his 70th birthday.

The Power and the Passion, which is on display for one week from October 3, is Jackson's homage to the Yorkshire moors – a landscape that has beguiled him for the past 60 years.

"Yorkshire is the only county where you can have all the seasons in one day, rain, snow, and the occasional ray of sunshine. I have strived to create with a brush what the Bronts did with a pen, and with the paintings I have chosen for this exhibition, I hope that I have achieved this."

The exhibition, which will subsequently go on display at Temple Newsam, in Leeds, from October 23 through to May next year, features 35 paintings from his own private collection.

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"These paintings have what I call the power and the passion; they're from the soul and most of them haven't been seen in public before."

Jackson has made his name through his brooding, light-saturated watercolours and isn't about to attempt to reinvent the wheel.

"My paintings are all of the Yorkshire Moors where it's either raining, just about to rain, or just finished raining," he says, jokingly.

George Robertson, former Nato Secretary-General, has been invited to open the exhibition and 10 per cent of the proceeds from any sales will go to The Prince's Trust, along with all the money raised from the exhibition catalogues.

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"I've been involved with The Prince's Trust for around 35 years and we wanted to try to raise as much money as we can, because it's a great cause that makes a real difference to people's lives," says Jackson.

The last time his work was on display here was nearly a quarter of a century ago with his Vision of Turner in Yorkshire exhibition.

"It's one of the most prestigious galleries in

the West End, so I'm delighted to be able to exhibit my work there once again," he says.

For his latest exhibition, the paintings will be on show in three different rooms. "In one of the galleries, there will be just a single painting of Yorkshire and there'll be a bench there so you can come in from the madding crowd and sit down and view the work."

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Yorkshire-based law firm Walker Morris is the main sponsor of the exhibition, which is also being supported by Welcome to Yorkshire and the Yorkshire Society.

"We've got a Yorkshire catering firm coming down, the catalogue is designed by a firm in Leeds and we've got Sheffield-based printers – because we want it to be a celebration of Yorkshire and its people."

Jackson has also agreed to hold a series of art demonstrations at Temple Newsam, Leeds, when the exhibition moves there.

"We are bringing in schoolchildren from all over Yorkshire to watch my painting demonstrations free of charge.

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"I wanted to take my art to the people and what better way than getting youngsters involved."

And he is pleased to be following in the footsteps of two of his heroes.

"Turner and Thomas Girtin were the last people to have their works on display at Temple Newsam, so I'm in good company."

He has been painting on the Yorkshire moors for more than half a century and on the eve of his 70th birthday, he insists he's lost none of the passion for his craft.

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"I still have a love affair with Yorkshire; whenever I step out on to the moorland, it never fails to amaze me, and until that ends I will carry on painting her contours."

And his exhibition? "It's my swansong," he says. "I want to show London what Yorkshire is all about – it's about grit and it's about passion."

The Power and the Passion, the Mall Galleries, London, from Oct 3-9 and at Temple Newsam, Leeds, from Oct 23-May 8, 2011.