2025 Jonathan Yule exhibition at Burnham Overy Staithe Boathouse.

The coastal landscape of North Norfolk has been part of my life for over fifty years. Having trained in agriculture I came to Norfolk to work as a shepherd. The wild coastal marshes fuelled my early paintings. As I worked with sheep on coastal land and spent as much time as I could wildfowling and field sketching, the dramatic skies and the wildfowl and waders became a constant source of inspiration. In 1979 I sought advice from my artistic hero, Sir Peter Scott, by writing to him and asking if he might give me guidance. That meeting changed my life. His kindness and encouragement gave me the confidence to pursue my artistic ambition. Alongside my professional painting I continued contract shepherding for some years, lambing a thousand ewes in the military training area close to our home in the Breckland for two decades. 

The Pinkfeet geese that migrate to Norfolk from Iceland have always held a fascination for me. For 30 years I have been travelling to Iceland, following in the footsteps of Sir Peter Scott, to see them on their breeding grounds. I have just returned from this year’s trip and the passion has not dimmed.

The wild marshes of the coast, grazed by both cattle and sheep, have been a huge part of my life. The oil painting of Belted Galloway cattle (owned by Holkham Estate) and the dramatic late afternoon sky encapsulate two powerful inspirations in one image.  Belted Galloways, surely one of the hardiest of breeds, are perfect for the conservation grazing required to maintain the rich diversity of habitat nurtured by the Estate. The result of this conservation work is the wonderful network of wetland grazing, lagoons and dunes that make North Norfolk such a haven for breeding and wintering wildfowl.