Hawarden Mill was built in 1767 (and rebuilt in 1777 after a major fire) by Charles Howard, millwright, for Sir Glyn Bart, Lord of the manor. It was in operation until the 1940s, and has since, fallen slowly into ruin. The wheel house (to the left of my painting, is the most substantial part of the mill remaining).

After doing much historical research, I first visited the mill in 2015, when I spent many hours producing reference material amongst the ruins – in the form of over one hundred photographs; a video; and sketches (pencil, and acrylics). From this material, I decided on my composition for ‘Hawarden Mill’. As is usual for my large paintings, I stretched my own canvas on a hand-made stretcher. After priming, squaring up, and drawing out, I produced a loose, tonal underpainting, followed by successive layers of paint – including many glazes, and light areas of impasto for the highlights.