Chris Pulham’s railway paintings bowled me over as I toured the model railway exhibition held in the Thirsk Town Hall recently, so obviously I had to pin down this extraordinarily talented woman: why railways?
Readers, I found her and, as with many of us, Chris has liked steam locomotives since she was a small child. For her, it meant she was going somewhere exciting. So, jumping to adulthood we find Chris held true to this interest, which was as well for Rob had entered her life, and he was also an aficionado of steam railways. Off the pair of them would go – to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway – and watch the trains go by, probably waved at the driver, and certainly, as she said, smelt the smoke, and hot oil. Even as she said this, I could see and smell the trains myself. So evocative; and wonderful that these glorious steam trains have been saved by enthusiasts, and what’s more, transferred to stretch canvas by Chris Pulham.
Chris has been painting and drawing for as long as she remembers, though to begin with, it was horses. She continued painting once she was working full time, but after seeing Sir Nigel Gresley come out of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway shed following his overhaul. she shifted her attention to railways.
Chris had taken photos of Sir Nigel Cresley, and used these to paint Sir Nigel’s portrait in oils. Rob, of course, loved it, and commissioned many more… (There are now the most magnificent steam engine paintings festooning the house). It transpired that it was indeed fortunate that Chris had developed this love of a particular subject as life a took a tricky turn when ill health dealt her a blow, and full-time work became an impossibility for some years. So, art became central to her life – a lifeline if you like.
Wakefield Shed
I was curious to know which was Chris’s favourite painting, and it transpires that it is a scene at Wakefield Shed, showing an ex LNER B1 locomotive called Harry Hinchcliffe – named after a LNER director. She included 2 schoolboys peering in to see if the foreman was around. She used the boys to emphasise the size of the engine. It is her favourite because she used Rob as a model for the boys.
Though Chris started her artistic career using oils, she became allergic to turpentine and switched to acrylics. Adjustment took a while as oils stay wet and pliable on the canvas and colours can be blended easily. Acrylics, on the other hand, dry almost immediately once brushed onto the canvas, and can’t be wiped off if mistakes are made. So, nothing daunted, Chris developed her own acrylic techique, and used a bacon box and pump spray to keep the paint moist, enabling her to apply many layers of paint to achieve the depth of colour she required. Atta girl.
So, there we are: Chris had sorted her painting materials, her illness was behind her, and though she volunteered with the Guild of Railway Artists for a while, art is now her sole focus. Where can people see her work?
Chris is will be at the Village Hall, Station Road, Newton-le-Vale, Bedale, Lower Wensleydale, DL8 1SP for her exhibition RAILWAYS ON CANVAS. 9th and 10th September – 10am – 4pm. Free Entry with refreshments in aid of Breast Cancer Now.
I implore you to go along. Her work is fabulous.
Let’s leave the last word to Chris Pulham: ‘I hope to continue painting well into my dotage, with perhaps one or two exhibitions along the way. I’m thinking I may paint other subjects from time-to-time. I quite fancy painting wild life. There is certainly a lot to inspire me living in the Dales.’
www.chrispulhamrailwayartist.co.uk