Wildhive Eshott Hall: a Northumberland mural

Eshott Hall is the second commission I have made for the Wildhive Collection, and it follows naturally from what we built together at Callow Hall in Derbyshire. The Wildhive approach to hospitality treats the building as a celebration of the landscape it sits in, and the art as part of that argument rather than a layer applied on top. That is the kind of brief I find most satisfying.

Eshott Hall itself has been accumulating character since the early fourteenth century: a fortified manor that became a Palladian style house in the mid seventeenth century, significantly enlarged in 1881, and now a Grade II* listed Georgian manor set in 37 acres of mature gardens and ancient woodland near Morpeth. The asterisk matters. It is one of only six per cent of listed buildings considered of exceptional interest. The commission to paint for a space like this is not something I take lightly.

The brief is a bespoke scenic mural for the private dining room: a space for intimate dinners and celebrations for up to ten guests. The design depicts the local area, the Northumberland landscape, and its particular qualities of light, colour, coast, and moorland. Interior designer Matt Hulme of Dynargh Design, who commissioned the work, has drawn the palette of the wider property from the surrounding landscape: greens and earthy tones alongside chalky reds, burnt ochre, and the coastal warmth of Northumberland. The mural belongs within that world.

What I am aiming for, is the sense that the space completes itself when the mural is in it. Not a painting on a wall, but a room that has become somewhere. This is the second time the Wildhive Collection has commissioned me for a property, which is the kind of continuity I value most in a client relationship. It means the first commission worked. It also means the second carries a shared understanding: a design thread between two properties in two completely different landscapes, connected by a consistent approach to what art should do in a hospitality space.

I particularly welcome commissions for heritage hospitality spaces where the context demands accuracy as much as artistry.