Ilkley gallery owner, Claire Baxter, has been selected as the official artist for Yorkshire Day. We spoke to her about her work, drawing inspiration from the beauty of the county, and getting involved with the Ilkley community.
Hi Claire. Congratulations on being the official Yorkshire Day artist! Tell us more about that.
Well, I was the official Yorkshire artist for the Tour de Yorkshire in 2020, but that got cancelled due to COVID. So, when we found out that Ilkley was hosting the Yorkshire Day celebrations with Bradford City of Culture, I thought it was great that it had never been done before – to have an artist for Yorkshire Day.
Talking to Ilkley BID, we decided that the focus should be the bandstand and that a percentage of all the sales will go towards its upkeep. And because the activities for that weekend centred around the Grove and the bandstand – it seemed a natural choice. It’s such an integral part of the town. It’s been great to be able to work with the community, especially being new to Ilkley.
There seems to be a vibrant art scene and creative community in Ilkley. How are you connecting with it?
I’m now involved in different things in Ilkley, even though I’ve only had a business here for six months, such as sponsoring the flower show, the May carnival, and networking where possible.
When the gallery was officially launched in May, we connected with clubs, societies, and local dignitaries. The list was endless, I’ve never seen anything like it – every club you could imagine. There’s something for everyone and that’s just fantastic for the town.
You have painted some amazing pieces of Yorkshire. What is it about the county that you find so artistically inspiring?
I’m Yorkshire born and bred, from Knaresborough originally. The great thing about Yorkshire is that you’ve got such a diverse and large county. From coast to city to town to country to lowland – we’re so well situated. You’ve got such inspiration in the territory all around, further afield towards Skipton, Malham, and then obviously over into West Yorkshire and then back into North Yorkshire again.
People ask: “Why don’t you paint elsewhere?” I don’t need to! I’ve got everything on my doorstep.
Your work displays a great feel for the landscape, but the way that you incorporate human figures is really effective as well! Can you tell us more about this?
The people kind of set the scene – they stop it from being just a landscape adding an element of storytelling. You never see the characters’ faces. The whole idea is to keep them anonymous so that people might recognise themselves or family members in the picture. If you can identify the location and you’ve got special memories of something there, and if you can imagine you recognise the characters, suddenly you’ve got a very personalised picture.
The three main elements are nostalgia, romance, and humour, because that represents everyday life. There’s nothing pretentious about what I do at all. It’s all about people being able to relate to something that will make them smile.
Your characters George and Daphne have become quite beloved, not to mention collectable! What can you tell us about this pair?
So, George and Daphne started 11 years ago in collaboration with Whitby Galleries. The idea is they’re in a relationship between these two characters as they navigate life together. They’re usually portrayed in rural Yorkshire scenes, but last year, for their 10th anniversary, I took them around the world for their world tour, which six different locations: London, Paris, New York, Las Vegas, Sydney, and Italy
They’ve got a huge following. We get people coming to Ilkley from all over the UK for the gallery collection, because there’s hand-embellished, signed, limited edition prints that you can only buy from us.
Your calendars have become hugely popular too, haven’t they?
Every single year we do the Yorkshire calendar and have built up a huge collector database. The inquiries start around June and because they are limited, we nearly always run out in December.
We send them out all over the world to expats, largely as gifts or for avid collectors, it’s their little reminder of home every month when they turn the page over.
You’ve had lots of recognition and awards. What can you tell us about that?
Thank you! A huge accolade was when I was a finalist for the 2022 UK Most Popular Published Artist with the Fine Art Trade Guild.
In 2023, I won Best Rural Business for the Harrogate Business Awards and last year I was up for Best Retail and Best Independent for Harrogate, and I also hosted the Knaresborough Business Awards. It’s really nice to be recognised for my work, and hopefully people enjoy what I do.
