The Last of Borderway by John Hewitt
Diggle artist John Hewitt is showing his final drawing of a magnificent Diggle animal, at the Millyard Gallery in the Square in Uppermill from Sunday 12 October. For several years the limousin bull, Gallaber Borderway, has been a familiar site to anyone who has walked up Ridge Lane during the spring and summer months. John has drawn Borderway three times. The first two drawings were exhibited at London’s Royal Academy in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Due to the technicalities of husbandry, eight-year-old Borderway moved on earlier this year and now resides at a farm in Cheshire.
“The Last of Borderway” took six months to complete, drawn through a magnifying glass with pin-sharp pencils. It shows the bull with one of his many calves, completing a generational cycle. John remembers Borderway as a gentle giant. “He was tremendously powerful but had an aura of calmness about him. If you were chased out of the field by the cows Borderway would amble along several minutes later, just to see what the fuss was about. On very hot days the cows and calves would shelter from the sun in the Borderway’s vast shadow.”
John is a frequent exhibitor at the Millyard Gallery. “It is always a privilege to show work at the Millyard,” he says. “As a commercial gallery it stands alone in the region for the quality and the diversity of the artists it supports. Artworks by internationally important figures such as Peter Blake, Barbara Rae and Bruce McLean are shown alongside those by prominent local practitioners, and the gallery has always given newcomers a chance to get on the ladder. Joan Frost and her team deserve medals for their long-standing contribution to the cultural life of Saddleworth.”
The Millyard Gallery Autumn Exhibition continues until Sunday 2nd November and contains work by a vibrant range of contemporary British artists.
