A Starry Night Over Ripponden

A special 60th birthday commission

Van Gogh is one of my favourite painters so imagine how excited I was when I was asked to recreate one of his most iconic paintings, The Starry Night.

My task was to reimagine and create Van Gogh’s iconic Starry Night over a totally different landscape – Ripponden in West Yorkshire.

The artwork was commissioned as a gift to mark a special birthday milestone. My customer wanted to know if it was possible to reference the birth date in the artwork somehow. I immediately envisioned the year as the swirling wind – the numbers were perfect, 1962 – and loved the idea of having this extra personal touch ‘hidden’ in the sky.

Creating this commission was a beautiful experience. Not only because I got to paint the strokes of one of my favourite painters, but also because of the personal voyage down memory lane.

“I grew up just up the road from the Ripponden scene in my artwork…”

Drawing this landscape brought back plenty of memories of childhood adventures up and down the Ryburn valley.

You may already know that I have quite a soft spot for Van Gogh – See my Sunflowers illustration I made as a tribute to him here). Vincent’s approach to capturing the movement and colour of the world is mesmerising. His life story, tragic, and one that will always pull at my heart strings. He was a gentle fellow who, in the end, was overcome by his demons.

I loved making this piece, and was so excited to watch the reaction video that was sent to me after the grand reveal.

“Art is truly magical and I love seeing how it can make people smile.”

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The power of pictures. It's the one language we all understand. I am passionate about translating written and spoken stories into illustrations that spark curiosity and engage your audience. If you enjoy my work and would like to see what I can bring to your project, please get in touch.

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