Programme one starts by taking two contemporary Welsh artists to the area that inspired artist J M W Turner to paint one of his greatest landscape paintings.

Series presenter Osi Rhys Osmond takes fellow artists Iwan Gwyn Parry and Gwennan Gruffydd to the Dee Estuary in Flintshire where Turner first sketched his oil painting ‘Flint Castle’ in 1799.

The landscape which inspired Joseph Mallord William Turner’s ‘Flint Castle’ has changed a great deal since the turn of the nineteenth century, with an imposing power station now prominent on the banks of the estuary. But, as Osi, the artist and author from Llansteffan, Carmarthenshire, finds out, this industrial architecture inspires the two 21st century artists as much as the stunning natural landscape.

The original oil on canvas landscape wasn’t finished until 15 years after Turner’s visit, but its vivid light and shade colouring make the painting, now owned by the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, a landscape classic.

The untamed Welsh landscape and its history and culture always fascinated Turner, who was also influenced by travel writer Thomas Pennant and fellow artist, Richard Wilson, and this is reflected in his range of evocative paintings of North Wales and other parts of the UK.

Artist profiles...
Iwan Gwyn Parry
Gwennan Gruffudd