Spring on the Fells: Fell Racing, Mountain Inspiration and New Pennine Way paintings
- elainebisson
- Mar 6
- 4 min read
Spring has arrived in the mountains and with it comes a noticeable shift in energy. After the darker winter months, the longer days and clearer light make it easier to get back onto the fells. For those of us who spend time both running and painting in the mountains, this change of season always brings a renewed sense of motivation.
With the fell racing calendar beginning to gather momentum again, the Lake District and northern hills are about to become busier with runners, walkers and mountain enthusiasts making the most of the improving weather. For me, this time of year is not only about running but also about gathering inspiration for new mountain landscape paintings.
Reccing the Coledale Horseshoe
Yesterday my husband and I spent the day reccing the route of the Coledale Horseshoe, one of the classic fell races in the Lake District. Conditions could not have been better. Clear skies and bright spring sunshine made the ridges and valleys stand out with incredible clarity.
The Coledale Horseshoe takes runners over a spectacular circuit of fells above Braithwaite, including Grisedale Pike, Crag Hill and Barrow. The route offers sweeping views across some of the most recognisable mountains in the northern Lake District and it is easy to see why this race is such a favourite within the fell running community.
Days like these are also invaluable for painting inspiration. Spending time moving through the landscape, observing the changing light and the shapes of the ridgelines helps inform how I later develop my mountain paintings back in the studio.
Preparing for the Northern Traverse
Another event approaching soon is the Northern Traverse, an ultra race that follows the full length of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay.
I raced the Northern Traverse in 2022 and finished on the podium in second place, so it’s an event that holds special memories. This year I’ll be returning to the route in a different role — not as a competitor but to support and cheer on the runners as they cross some of the most dramatic landscapes in northern England.
More importantly, it also presents a wonderful opportunity to capture new painting ideas along the route.
Several locations along the Coast to Coast offer powerful panoramic views of the surrounding hills and valleys. One particular scene has recently gained renewed attention after appearing in the latest film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, bringing a fresh wave of interest to that atmospheric landscape.
These moments of cultural attention can bring new appreciation to places that have always held quiet beauty for those who spend time in the mountains.
Spring Light and Painting the Mountains
Spring light in the mountains has a very particular quality. After the subdued colours of winter, the landscape begins to feel more alive again. Greens begin to return to the lower slopes while the higher fells retain a more muted palette of rock, grass and lingering cold air.
This transitional season often inspires new work in the studio as well. The increased daylight and renewed time spent outside tend to translate directly into creative energy when I return to painting.
For mountain landscape artists, there is something about physically moving through the terrain — whether running, walking or climbing — that deepens the understanding of the place being painted.
A New Painting Inspired by the Cheviots
Alongside these plans for upcoming races, I have also recently completed a new painting inspired by the Cheviot Hills on the Pennine Way.
This piece follows on from my success earlier this year when I was joint winner of the Spine Challenger North race in January 2026. That race finishes in the remote Cheviot hills near the Scottish border, an area known for its vast open moorland and quiet, expansive landscapes.
The painting is a little different from much of my previous work.
Rather than dramatic peaks or ridges, the Cheviots present a broader, often indistinct horizon, stretching across a wide and barren landscape. It captures the feeling of reaching the later stages of the Spine race where the terrain becomes exposed, wild and strangely peaceful despite the exhaustion of the journey.
These quieter landscapes can often be the most powerful, because they communicate the scale and solitude of the hills.
NEW PAINTING BEING RELEASED SOON
Cheviots, Pennine Way
March 2025,
Acrylic on canvas board 23.4" x 33.1"
Mountains, Running and Painting
The connection between running in the mountains and painting them has always been central to my work. Being physically present in the landscape – feeling the weather, observing the terrain and moving through the hills – provides an understanding that is difficult to achieve from photographs alone.
Events like the Coledale Horseshoe and the Northern Traverse provide opportunities to revisit familiar landscapes while also discovering new viewpoints that may eventually become paintings.
Over the coming weeks I’ll be spending more time on the fells again, both supporting runners and gathering inspiration for future work.
Follow the Upcoming Mountain Painting Series
This spring and summer I will also be developing a new series of mountain paintings inspired by these landscapes and races, capturing scenes from the Lake District as the season unfolds. I shall be running with my art gear up to the top of 5 favourite fells in the Lake District, setting up my easel, grabbing water from a local stream and painting the amazing views from that summit, whilst hopefully also getting a chance to connect with walkers, runners and like-minded lovers of the fells.
If you would like to see the paintings as they develop, you will be able to explore more of my work as it happens, on my upcoming 'Painting the Lake District from the Summits' gallery collection page.
The mountains always reveal something new each time you return to them, and that continual rediscovery is what keeps both the running and the painting endlessly compelling.
I hope to see you on the tops in the spring sunshine.
Elaine.
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