“Church Row, Hampstead” - Oil on canvas

£1300

Unframed oil painting. View of Hampstead from a churchyard, at twilight, with a car approaching and headlights gleaming in reflection of the road. Trees overhead and an old-fashioned lamp-post in the middle.

Church Row is one of Hampstead’s oldest streets – a Georgian terrace running from Heath Street to St John-at-Hampstead, where Constable is buried.

The churchyard at the bottom opens out into a view most people walk past without stopping. This painting is that view, in the last of the light on a wet autumn afternoon: leaves plastered to the paving, a car coming round the corner with its headlights already on, the lamp above the churchyard gate lit up, the brick of the terrace warmed by whatever sun is left in the sky.

I grew up in West London, then crossed the Westway and have lived most of my adult life in or near Hampstead. I’ve walked up and down Church Row hundreds of times, and I know the church well.

What I was after in this painting was the moment when the streetlights come on before the day has quite gone. The sky is still pale, the road is still bright with reflected water, and the yellow of the lamps and headlights is doing something the daylight can’t.

Anyone who’s walked home through Hampstead in October knows the exact half-hour I mean.

Oil On Canvas (unframed) 40×50cm

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I’ve had this painting on the wall in my own office. I’m letting it go, to make room for something else. I posted it on Instagram and LinkedIn, and was gratified by the responses:


  • “My favourite neighbourhood in the world” – Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year
  • “Very atmospheric. Reminds me of my childhood” – Charmian Spencer
  • “Nice job!” – Robert Twigger, author of Angry White Pyjamas
  • “Gorgeous” – Paul Treacy, photographer
  • “It’s beautiful John-Paul” – Marie Smith, leadership and development coach
  • “This is beautiful!” – Ilona King, psychotherapist
  • “I love this! It’s like you’ve told a story with paint 😊” – Rin Hamburgh, copywriter
  • “You are a magician, capturing a beautiful scene for eternity – really lovely!” – Yukie Paine
  • “I sang in this church for years and you’ve just brought back evensong to me ❤️” – Maddy Holmes, lyric soprano
  • “👏👏” – Estelle Lovatt, “People’s Art Critic” on Talk TV

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