Artist Of The Month

Anthony Ratcliffe is a dedicated fell runner but he also uses the landscape to create fascinating images

- Barbara Waite

It probably helps that Anthony Ratcliffe is a very fit man for he loves to explore the remote countryside, documenting the effects of industry on the hills.

He has competed in many fell races in the north of England particularly in Lancashire and Cumbria, completing the Bob Graham Round in fewer than 20 hours and breaking the record for ‘The Fellsman’ in 1991 – 61 miles in 10 hours and 11 minutes.

Anthony’s artistic relationship with landscape has always been enhanced by years of involvement with climbing and running and he lives and works from a studio in Mossley near spectacular Saddleworth Moor.

The landscape images in his prints are developed from sketchbook drawings made on site and enriched by further research into historical recordings of topographical and archeological features found in the remoter areas of not just the uplands but the coastline as well.

He is interested in the remnants left by industrial intrusion into the hills and how they become integral parts of the character of that particular landscape.