Artist in Residence, April 2026 to April 2027

A Year at East Riddlesden Hall

A year of looking, drawing and painting at the National Trust’s East Riddlesden Hall, near Keighley in West Yorkshire. Through its buildings, interiors and surrounding landscape, I am exploring how light, history and memory shape our experience of this place.

Artist in Residence

A year to explore East Riddlesden Hall

In March 2026, I submitted a detailed proposal for an Artist in Residence opportunity at East Riddlesden Hall. My proposal was accepted, and I began the residency in April. I wanted to explore the quieter thresholds within the Hall and its grounds: where buildings meet landscape, where interiors open onto gardens, and where changing light alters the character of familiar spaces. The residency has given me time to return, look more closely and develop a body of work through sustained observation. As part of my residency, my first solo exhibition, Thresholds: Light, Memory and Place, runs at the Hall from 24 October 2026 to 13 April 2027.

Matthew Eyles Artists sketching at East Riddlesden Hall

Researching and understanding a place

Getting to know the Hall

My work begins with time spent in a place

At East Riddlesden Hall, I started by walking around the site, taking photographs, making sketches and becoming familiar with the house and its surroundings. I then researched the Hall’s history in more detail. Learning about its development and the people associated with it added another dimension to what I was seeing. I began to see the Hall more clearly as a place shaped by successive generations, their decisions and their lives. Both the house and its grounds have survived within an increasingly urban setting. Together, they form a fragment of historic landscape shaped by centuries of use and change. The Hall sits closely within its surroundings, yet feels slightly apart from the world beyond.

Drawing to understand

Alongside the initial sketches, I began making more detailed freehand drawings, including elevations and roof plans, to understand how the different parts of the Hall fit together. This felt familiar from the surveying stage of my architectural work. Drawing requires me to look carefully, moving between the building’s overall form, its individual details and its relationship with the surrounding landscape. The act of drawing helps me understand relationships that I might otherwise overlook. That understanding feeds into the paintings, informing their structure, viewpoints and sense of space, alongside my interest in atmosphere, memory and how it feels to spend time here.

a preliminary drawing of the drive at East Riddlesden Hall

Preliminary sketch of East Riddlesden Hall

From sketches to paintings

Simple line drawings and reference sketches help me to understand the building and its setting. Some provide the starting point for more detailed studies and finished paintings. The development of Evening shows how an initial observation can grow through drawing and colour into a finished work.

A Promise of Evening

The initial sketch establishes the view of the Hall through the trees, exploring the relationship between the buildings, branches and open ground.

An original pen drawing by Matthew Eyles

Lengthening Shadows

The coloured study develops the effects of light and shade. Colour begins to establish the atmosphere, while the long shadows give greater definition to the foreground.

Evening

The finished painting opens the view into a wider landscape. The trees take a stronger role in framing the buildings, while warm light and shadows bring the different elements together. These works form part of a continuing process of looking, understanding and interpreting. Each stage helps me explore what interests me about the place and what I want the finished work to convey.