Life Force: A Painter's Response to the Nature Poetry of Ted Hughes

by Louise Fletcher

Life Force is a stunning sequence of over 30 abstract artworks, each taking their inspiration from the poetry of former UK poet laureate Ted Hughes (1930–1998) and the evocative setting of the Yorkshire moors.

With quotations from Hughes’s work included alongside the pieces they provoked, moving commentary by Louise detailing their background and inclusive of preliminary sketches and photography, this wonderfully produced hardback documents a journey through both literature and the landscape.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Poetry

192 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 2022

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely stunning book. The art is glorious and the explanation of how Louise came to paint the paintings and the method of painting them is fascinating.
I did a little bit about Ted Hughes at school but I must have missed his nature poetry entirely. I’ve now bought his collected works inspired by Louise’s response to them through her art.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in abstract art, or landscapes.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunningly gorgeous book, well worth reading and viewing even if you don’t like or don’t ‘get’ abstract paintings. The artist, Louise Fletcher, talks about her process in making a series of paintings based on the nature poetry of Ted Hughes. Fletcher’s work has given me all kinds of ideas for my own, and the inspiration to actually give it a try.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life Force is a magnificent collection of Louise Fletcher’s abstract landscapes inspired by the nature poetry of former UK poet laureate, Ted Hughes (1930-1998). Hughes and Fletcher were both inspired by the land and weather of the Yorkshire moors. In the book, Fletcher takes us on the journey of how this project evolved, from her girlhood love of Hughes’s poetry to her adult understanding of the power and beauty of landscape and how it can be conveyed through both poetry and painting. The book is also about the creative process, and Fletcher shares preliminary sketches, photos, and her personal philosophy, as well as the questions faced and decisions made along the way. The result is a gorgeous product, a seeming coalescence of Hughes’s and Fletcher’s artistic sensibilities revealed in both words and in the stunning color plates of all 34 paintings in this remarkable series.

The book is gorgeous compilation by Bird Eye Books, an imprint of Graffeg Limited, Wales, UK. This is #11 of 100 books I aim to read in 2022, though I’m sure I will revisit it many, many times, year after year. It feels like an honor to own this book!

[Laurie Hammons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louise Fletcher is an abstract painter from west Yorkshire who was touched at a young age by the nature poetry of Ted Hughes. She embarked upon a project of painting her emotional response to these paintings. For anyone who has wondered what is behind an abstract painting - did the artist just slap on some paint? - this book describes her years-long, hard-won effort to create paintings that come from her intuition and emotion, with careful descriptions and examples. As an artist, it spoke to questions that I puzzle over and gives advice on expressing ourselves truthfully and bravely. Oh yes, the paintings are beautiful.

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book so much! I’m a fan of the Art Juice podcast and heard about this project for a long time- I finally asked for it as a Christmas gift and then put it aside to “save it” I realized this summer I do that a lot with books I want to savor… eek! I finished reading it and it inspired me to write even more poetry like Hughes. Louise is so talented and her paintings made me want to get a canvas out again! Love love love this book

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It begins on the cover that tells it all. Gorgeous work, talented painter Louise Fletcher has captured nature in her abstract works. And then she tells the story of her own journey in art that inspires others to follow her lead.

[debbie-anne Hogarth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book the moment I opened it, full of inspiration, not just within the artwork, but the exploration of the process.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful book is a dichotomy of poetry and paint. Add to these the author’s generous notes explaining her idea and the inspiration-since -childhood that compelled her to explore another artist’s work, and the reader is left with a magical creative discovery, an obvious labor of love.

On the one hand, there are the Ted Hughes (former UK poet laureate) nature poems. While not reproduced here in their entirety, the author includes many of the best-loved verses, and many verses that she feels help explain the emotion behind what she has painted.

On the other hand, there are the author’s painted interpretations of Ted Hughes’s poetry. She pays tribute to the inspiration borne of his words with these paintings. Throughout the pages the reader is treated to descriptions and story snippets of of the Yorkshire Moors, Emily Brontë, Sylvia Plath, and the Napoleonic Wars, to name a few.

For anyone interested in painting, especially abstract painting, this book is a gift and a must read. For anyone who says they don’t understand abstract art, this is the perfect place to start. The author describes in easy language how and why she created what she did.

The book includes ink studies, early sketches in paint, graphite, charcoal, collage, as well as photographs. The illustrations and rich color plates are top quality