Worth

Keighley is a former mill and market town, at the confluence of the rivers Aire and Worth, 11 miles north west of the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire. In possibly every direction you look, you can always see the tops of hills, either rough green or moody moorland. This is my view from where I live, out walking the dog. Growing up in Keighley, hearing people slate it was an everyday affair. I therefore assumed leaving it would be great. However, each time I missed things dearly. On my last return, the contrast between my fondness for the place and people's attitudes was stark. If a town is constantly told its rubbish, how will that effect its people's state of mind, their thoughts, feelings, behaviour and people's reactions to this and the town. At the time of painting this piece, I had been starting to explore landscape, however this piece gave me the inspiration to turn around from the romantic Brontë moors on the edge of Keighley, and specifically face towards Keighley.