Summer evening at Hickling

Hickling is a small village in the Norfolk Broads, a historic wetland in eastern England. Its may be that without Hickling, England might have been invaded by Napoleon, and world history could have been very different. It was on Hickling broad, a lake next to the village (actually dug by monks in the medieval period to provide peat to fuel the fires of Norwich and Great Yarmouth) that Admiral Lord Nelson learned how to sail. Lord Nelson went on to become England's most famous seaman and naval commander, and defeated the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte at the battle of Trafalgar. Crawshaw paints the river at Hickling in the rich light of a summer evening, with boats mooring for the night under the shade of the trees. The scene is laden with the scents and sounds of summer in Norfolk; the fish rising, the waterfowl calling and honeysuckle on the air. Perfection.

Thames Barge, near Malden, Essex

The East coast of England is pierced with hundreds of creeks, estuaries and bays, most of which are steeped in rich maritime history. The above painting shows a traditional Thames barge, tied up at low tide in a creek  - the vessel reflected in the water in the pale winter light. This oil painting vividly evokes the margin between sea and land, past and present that still lies heavily on eastern England.

Horse racing in the Devon countryside.

Alwyn Crawshaw has always had a love of horses, and is privileged to be a member of The Society of Equestrian Artists. Point-to-point races, or steeplechases have their origins in hunting - as jumping over obstacles is essential for a good hunting horse. The races developed as a way for rival owners to test their hunting horses against one another under equal conditions. In the above painting, Crawshaw captures the movement and majesty of the horses, in what is still a living part of English country life.
Ottery St Mary is a small town in the East Devon countryside, with an extraordinary parish church, modeled on the magnificent Exeter cathedral only thirteen miles away. Alwyn Crawshaw and his family used to live just a few miles from the town, and it is still a landscape that is very close to his heart.