Lighthouse love affair leads to series of artworks
THERE are around 350 lighthouses dotted around Britain’s shores, from rock stations to harbour and breakwater lights – with some notable examples standing proudly along our own beautiful North East coast.
Artist and author Roger O’reilly has spent the last five years illustrating the lighthouses of Britain and Ireland. The stunning images are now available to buy as prints from Lighthouse Editions, while a book of prints and stories will be out in early 2024.
Each artwork is a unique composition based on the artist’s own drawings and sketches, lovingly created after travelling from county to county.
There are several from our part of the world – Tynemouth, South Shields and Coquet lighthouses, among others.
Lighthouses capture the imagination in a way that few other structures do. They evoke a keen sense of the romance and adventure, of life at sea, and a reassuringly benevolent presence when illuminated at night. For sailors, they are a welcome first sight of safe harbour, while during daylight hours they act as markers, beacons, and in the case of yacht races, destinations in themselves.
Inspired by the iconic British travel posters of the 1930s and ‘40s, the collection includes iconic and historic lighthouses from across Britain – from those we are familiar with from Radio 4’s shipping forecast, to the more obscure structures that dot myriad harbours and estuaries.
There are lighthouses with historical significance and amazing design, those that tell stories of pirates and wreckers, ones you can stay in, and ones with unexplained ghost stories.
Roger said: “I grew up near the mouth of the River Boyne, on Ireland’s East coast. A few minutes from my door were three unusual estuarine lighthouses perched among the sand dunes.
“Drogheda North, East and West lights were truncated structures that stood like Daleks on stilts, gazing forlornly out to sea and only coming to life as the dusk crept in.
“I didn’t realise it at the time, but they imprinted in me a deep-seated love of lighthouses and all that they represent.”
Roger’s collection of illustrations now runs to more than 350 lighthouses and is still a work in progress.
There are also more than 100 smaller lights providing navigation aids in our estuaries, harbour approaches and rivers, while a selection of best-loved decommissioned lighthouses are also included in his work.
Browse the collection at lighthouseeditions.com or email info@ Lighthouseeditions.com for more information.
A few minutes from my door were three unusual estuarine lighthouses perched among the sand dunes ... they imprinted in me a deep-seated love of lighthouses
ROGER O’REILLY