During the lockdown of 2020, Norman Ackroyd was unable to make his usual visit to some remote and beautiful part of the British coastline. He usually makes a trip each year, filling his days travelling around coastlines, climbing over rocks and making journeys on small fishing boats to uninhabited islands. There he would fill numerous sketchbooks with drawings and watercolours - pages often coated in sea salt by the end of the day - from which he would then create a beautiful series of etchings when back at his London studio.
This year, like most of us, he had to remain at home. So Norman turned to his vast and well-loved collection of old sketchbooks. He explains that looking through these sketches allows him to revisit some of his greatest journeys and and most loved landscapes in his head.
Norman selected some of his favourite memories and sketches and has created a wonderful series of new works from old memories. His exhibition this September includes works from all over the British Isles made from sketches of his journeys from the past 40 years.
