Plein Air Art Podcast · PleinAir Magazine

James Hart Dyke on Climbing and Painting a Mountain Summit

September 15, 2023·1 hr 10 min·4 clips

On Mont Blanc, James Hart Dyke says he concentrated harder than ever and realized he often does not paint properly.

1. Plein Air Art Podcast episode 253 focuses on James Hart Dyke and his climb to the summit of Mont Blanc to paint at sunset. 2. Eric Rhodes hosts the episode, and James Hart Dyke is the British artist and plein air mountaineer whose summit project gives the conversation its core subject. 3. The episode asks why an artist would carry paints up a mountain and try to recreate Gabriel Lope’s 1873 summit paintings on Mont Blanc. 4. Rhodes opens with his own Adirondacks boat-painting routine, a Labor Day update, and reminders about fall color week, Fine Art Connoisseur travel, and Realism Live. 5. James says his painting began at age eight at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London when he saw a John Constable study of East Bergholt. 6. He explains that he studied architecture for six years at the Royal College of Art before architects began commissioning him to paint buildings and country houses. 7. Rhodes and James talk about plein air painting in the UK, including rain, dogs, horses, hornets, bees, and other conditions that force faster work. 8. James says those difficult conditions are “generators” because cold weather shortens painting time and pushes painters toward instinct. 9. He describes being contacted for a secret project with the British Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6, for its centenary. 10. He says the MI6 project required a year of undercover work, no cameras, and a later public exhibition. 11. James recalls visiting the MI6 building, signing documents, and not being able to tell friends, family, or colleagues what he was doing. 12. He says he also painted military subjects in war zones and bases such as Camp Bastion, where he focused on soldiers’ quieter moments. 13. He says the people he met in those settings were selfless and motivated by service to others and to their country. 14. James explains that his MI6 connection led to a meeting with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and one of his paintings was used in Skyfall. 15. He says he accompanied King Charles on four foreign trips as an artist, following a royal tradition of taking painters on journeys abroad. 16. Rhodes notes that Charles is an accomplished painter, and James says Charles is underrated and very good. 17. For the Mont Blanc project, James says his dealer William Mitchell planned the climb for three years and recruited guide Christophe Profit for the ancient route. 18. James says he trained by running hills, buying ropes and climbing gear, and practicing in local woods until he learned basic rope technique. 19. The conversation is an interview with detailed back-and-forth, and James’s tone stays reflective even when he describes secret work, mountain risk, and pressure on the summit. 20. Listeners who like plein air painting, mountain stories, and artist biographies will likely stay engaged, while people wanting a short, purely technical painting lesson may skip it.

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