A gift from mother

Inspiration is the element on which all artists rely, the

X Factor that sets them apart from the humdrum. North Yorkshire farmer's wife Luci Wilson believes that she is now doing her most productive artistic work from behind a camera lens. Where she lives in High Farndale, nestling in a remote corner of the rugged North York Moors, provides her opportunities on the doorstep for alluring studies of landscapes and animal portraits.

But her most profound inspiration comes from elsewhere. It's an interior process connected with her mother. "When my mum died in 2007, I stayed up with her all night and I was alone with her when she passed away. For some reason, and I will never know why, I just knew the exact day she was going to die.

"She used to be a nurse and was such a strong person, much stronger than me. But when she died, it was as though she handed her strength over to me. To actually see someone who has been so close to you die makes you think that life really isn't a rehearsal. You only get the one chance at it, so if you're not happy with doing something you should change it, and that's what I have done."

Luci changed jobs many times. She has been a barmaid, run a fruit and veg market stall, served in supermarkets and in a Chinese takeaway, managed a newsagents and taken on many more roles which has always entailed living in either Kirkbymoorside or Farndale. Yet it is only now that she feels contented and she believes her mother is living on in her work today.

"I spent the first two years after mum died in a sort of cloud, just not believing she had gone.

"Then as I progressed with my photography I almost felt that she had placed things for me to take photographs of them at the exact time I was doing it, such as when I took an atmospheric picture at Ralph's Cross.

"I know that you read about things like this happening in books and seeing them in films, but you don't feel it will happen to you. It's then that I realised that mum hasn't gone. She's still there, spiritually, pushing me, telling me I'm doing the right thing."

Luci's penchant for art was evident at an early age, particularly with pencil drawings. The strength Luci now feels she has inherited was missing in her formative youth, particularly at school where she didn't have an easy time. "I was bullied and to be honest my favourite time was dinner time. My best subjects were sport and art, but if you weren't at the top of the class you weren't encouraged to do what you knew you were good at. I applied to study art at college in York but I didn't get in."

And that seemed to be that for Luci so far as any long-standing career in art was concerned. Her succession of jobs never provided the fulfilment she was seeking. "I found that although I continued drawing and acrylic painting, I was never confident enough to do them for others."

Now that the camera has become Luci's tool of trade she is gaining not just admirers but people who are prepared to buy her work from a gallery. She is particularly proud of one of her achievements this year. "Ryedale District Council run a photographic exhibition in the Milton Rooms in Malton every year. It has been running 33 years but until this year I hadn't known about it. You have to enter your work and the organisers choose what they feel are the best. There were about 500 entries this year, which they whittled down to 200 and two of mine were accepted."

Luci's Cow's Eye conjures up a feeling of sadness and is the very best example of how a simple, concentrated study can yield real artistic dividends. It sold for 95. "I was capped to bits. I love animals and I feel as though I have this calmness about me that means I could meet with any animal or group of animals and I could work with them."

As a farmer's wife Luci isn't short of subject matter. She and husband Chris live at Hollins Farm where they have a flock of Texel X sheep. They used to have pigs but found the feed was too expensive, although not before Luci had taken another set of wonderful pictures of them. They now adorn everything from fridge magnets to computer mouse mats.

"I just love what I'm doing so much. If I had a lot of money I would just give stuff away, but because I'm trying to build an income at home I am now looking at what I do in a more business-like way."

Her work now comes in the form of greeting cards, notelets, coasters, place mats, fridge magnets and mouse mats, and presently she has a smattering of local outlets selling her wares, including Farndale's only regularly open retail outlet of any kind – The Feversham Arms.

One of Luci's many past employers was Wrightson's Photography in Kirkbymoorside, where she used to feed photographic paper into machines and change the colours on it. Understanding the whole photographic process has been key to the quality of the work she produces in terms of its longevity.

"At first I was producing hand-made cards and handling the printing myself. But I found that if you don't use professional printing you have no guarantee on what is called colour fasting. Some pictures printed on a home copier might only last a year before changing colours. I am very fortunate that a girl I worked with at Wrightson's, Debra Wright, bought some of their equipment when the owners retired and she now handles all of my printing to make sure of the quality. I also use a really good framer, Anthony Bentley, who now frames all of my work."

In addition to her own income from the business, Luci is also helping to raise funds for charity work. "A friend of my nan's, my mum's mum, raises money for children in Kenya and goes over every year taking clothes and many other things. She buys cards from me at a discounted rate and sells them on. In three months she has raised 400."

Luci's artistic pen name is Lucia Jo (her baptismal name). She already has a slot booked at the Ryedale Folk Museum in Hutton-le-Hole next year.

"They will be featuring my work for a whole month. It's quite exciting really even though the business is not providing me with much income at present. People did tell me it would take about five years before I started to earn from it properly."

You can see in Luci's eyes the luminous pleasure she feels in discovering her calling. It is said that as someone dies, someone is born to take their place – for Luci it seems it took her mother's passing to bring her own soul alive.

www.luciajo.co.uk

YP MAG 6/11/10