For years I believed that painting outdoors was the mark of a true landscape artist. This essay explores why I chose a different path, and how walking through the landscape, rather than painting within it, became the foundation of my practice.

I’ve been going to the same valley and staying in the same field in North Wales for about thirty years. It’s here that my excitement and passion for being in the mountains first took root. When I was younger, it was all about escaping the field and exploring the knoll — a patch of land next to the campsite and farmhouse that was large enough to explore but safe enough that we couldn’t get lost. Dens and bases were built each holiday, and our little gang of friends would defe

Over the years, escaping into the mountains became an essential rhythm in my life, especially those of North Wales. I would venture out...