Buxton visitor paints town in new light with unique watercolour

A regular visitor to Buxton has made a permanent impression on the town after creating a unique painting of its finest landmarks which will now hang in her favourite guesthouse.
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Wiltshire resident Pippa Smith, 62, grew up in Derbyshire, lived in Buxton for a spell in the 1980s and returns every year to catch up with friends and family.

Having recently taken up watercolour painting, Pippa was inspired to channel her love of the area onto paper following a visit in May.

She said: “I’m trying all sorts of things at the moment to find my style, and with this I wanted to do something a bit different again.

Pippa's painting picks out many of Buxton's finest features.Pippa's painting picks out many of Buxton's finest features.
Pippa's painting picks out many of Buxton's finest features.

“I took lots of photos of various bits of architecture and our walks around the hills. They seemed like they could make a lovely painting, but the challenge was how to get them all in one place, so it became a bit of a collage.”

The painting was actually the easiest part of the creative process. It took Pippa several weekends to plot the drawing, and only a few hours to add in the colours.

She said: “It was the first time I’d used an ink and wash technique, and very enjoyable to do.

“At one point a friend came over who, by complete coincidence, had also just visited Buxton for the first time. They saw the drawing and said I had to add in the train station with its semi-circle window. It’s interesting all the different things that stand out to people when they think of the town.”

The painting is now set to help other visitors pick out Buxton’s highlights, as a copy is to be framed and hung at the Roseleigh guest house, on Broad Walk, where Pippa always stays.

Owners Gerard and Maggi Heelan were delighted to find that the Roseleigh has pride of place in the centre of the picture.

Pippa said: “I still have the original but I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. I’ve not tried selling my paintings, so I’m running out of wall space at home. I could always make more prints if anyone wanted.

“I was back in Buxton this weekend and took lots of new photos along the Monsal Trail, so there could be a new painting to come.”

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