Howgill Tattershall @HowgillTFA

News could scarcely be more bizarre, oppressive, astonishing & terrible - on so many fronts! I feel like retreating along the 'White Track' into the beautiful, colourful, wild landscape, painted by Charles Genge a century ago. Vigorous, assertive Art & glorious, reassuring Nature

Dora Holzhandler - one of many women artists whose work we cherish. 'Lovers with Pink Background', so simple & yet also so rich, intense & complex. Visionary artist, combining child-like simplicity with intense, mystical understanding of humanity, thro' 'lovers & children & life'

I keep losing myself in trees: along main roads, in gardens & parks, full of signs of Spring. Emerging leaves & blossom, shining in the sunlight. Echoing around them - sounds of woodpeckers, blackbirds & busy, humming, bees. Ossory Dunlop gives us a reminder of delights to come!

Arthur Studd's intriguing pic, c.1903, Borghese Gardens, Rome. Sombre holm oaks, Italy's national tree, sign of endurance & strength, protecting life-giving fountain of water, illuminated by sunlight of the future? This a time of industrial, political & Catholic renewal in Italy.

We're fascinated by portraits - and this, of Rosalie Brill in 1927, by her husband, Reginald Brill, is mesmerising. Taut ink lines capture intense personality & emphasis on sculptural weight lends dignity. Both Brills were artists, but (as so often) Rosalie less prolific.

Sylvia Levine, 'Portrait of young woman with green necklace': #womanartist whose work is full of intensity. Here, subtle array of colours, scrubbed & rubbed paint, & wide-eyed expression conveys mixed feelings - excitement, trepidation - of girl planning to go out into the world.

Greville Irvin's picture of Port Gaverne - N. Cornish coast, near Port Isaac. Once a busy port, especially for slate and pilchards(!), now very quiet & lovely. Studied in Paris, very prolific artist between the Wars. Pics. vivid, energetic, full of life & bold & beautiful colour!

James Fullarton, 'Cattle at Craigbrae'. A small picture, but a big blast of life: rich in colour & light; juicy, expressive brushwork; a celebration of everyday existence; a miracle of delight. Another outstanding artist from the Glasgow School of Art.

Thrilled to have on our walls this remarkable pic. by Dora Holzhandler, 'Anjali Dancers'. From 1995, #Anjali works with dancers with learning disabilities - brilliant company. Picture bursts with the artist's love of every aspect of our lives: joyous colour & dancing composition!

Patrick Hall a brilliant watercolour artist. Worked with very wet brush, saturating paper with colour, white ground shining through, capturing light & atmosphere. Details touched in & even some collage. Looking forward to Royal Watercolour Society exhib @ Bankside, from 7th March

Rose Hilton's lovely pastel of the effervescent Molly Parkin. Both #womenartists of vigour, delight. Hilton's use of colour is uplifting, infused by warmth & intimacy. Like so many artists who married artists, early years were full of domestic duties; later life full of marvels.

Lena Tarpley, another #womanartist about whom too little known. Simple painting, expressing simple delights: daisies in stoneware jar. But bird's eye view - thrusting flowers towards us - & secondary & tertiary complementary colours reveals sophistication with which she composes.

Edwin Ellis watercolour Peat Gathering c.1880s, rewards close inspection. He visited Paris in 1860s when radical change heralded by Manet. On return, began to paint out of doors, on the spot - unusual at that date in UK. Quality of light, pattern of brushmark, harmonies of colour

This might entertain... not quite what today's football fan would be dreaming of! By Thomas Heath Robinson (bro' of William HR). Inter-War years saw numerous of his illustrated books: the patterning, vivid colour, theatrical composition & sheer joy remain exhilarating, even today

A lovely portrait by Reginald Brill, painted in 1946 - &, given that rationing was then severe, her fashionable suit & delicate lace collar suggests this is a woman of substance. And, given the period & her age, she must have worked v hard to achieve such a status! We love her!

Jack Cox, fisherman, lifeboatman & 20thC artist, inherited the mantle of 19thC Norwich School artists. Cox loved the matchless, subtle beauties of North Norfolk, where the sky, sea & land are knitted together, as here in Wells-next-the-Sea. This picture is profound and rewarding.

Fascinating journey trying to identify subject of Val Prinsep's captivating portrait, 1859. Marked 'Francia Pitti', turns out it's after early 16thC work thought to be by Francia in Palazzo Pitti, but is, in fact, by Raphael - & is, surely, model for so many Pre-Raphaelite faces!

Mortimer Menpes, well-known prolific & outstanding etcher, also painter & traveller. Great friend & pupil of Whistler. 1st trip to Japan 1887: admired ceremony, ritual, poise & decorative richness. Countless tiny watercolours - like this - & 1901, 'Japan: A Record in Colour'.

Working on some new pictures today - photographing & writing about them - & now relaxing with exquisite etching by Winifred Austen. Such an intimate view of the elusive & rare red squirrel affords a quiet delight. Austen etched the plates herself & kept printing press in kitchen

Rome 1978, by Diana Armfield, an outstanding #womanartist & one whose long & productive life has enriched us all. Intense, closely-related tones capture Roman Ponte Sant’Angelo, completed in 2ndC AD by Hadrian, & Michelangelo's late 16thC dome of St Peter's @ Vatican. A treasure.