Audio description:
In Our Old World Valley by Samuel John ÔLamornaÕ Birch
Penlee House Gallery & Museum

The painting in front of you is by Samuel John ÔLamornaÕ Birch and is entitled In Our Old World Valley.  It was painted around 1921 and is oil on canvas, measuring 1 metre tall by just over 1 metre wide, which is just over 3 foot tall by 4 foot wide, in a large gilt frame.  It depicts the Lamorna Valley from a viewpoint looking down the valley towards the sea in the distance at Lamorna Cove.  Lamorna is on the south coast of Cornwall, about 4 miles from Penzance and lies in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The trees in the painting are bare of leaves indicating that it might be winter, although the way bright light is cast on the valley gives the impression that spring will soon be on its way.  The shadows show light is coming from the west, so it is afternoon.

A stream runs through the valley to the sea in the distance, beginning in the foreground in the right-hand lower corner of the painting, then running across to the centre of the painting about a quarter of the way up.  Here it bends to the right, disappearing behind a large rock outcrop.  The stream has been painted with a mixture of shades of blue and green, with white highlights indicating faster flowing water.  

In the foreground at the bottom of the picture there are uneven, mossy rocks forming a bank along the side of the stream.  The rocks and moss are painted in a range of green, yellow, brown and pink tones and they run across the whole of the bottom of the painting. The sweeping brush strokes are clear and bold and give the impression of lush vegetation.

There are several trees growing up from the mossy bank in the foreground and the other side of the stream, six trees in total.  They are painted in a range of greens, pinks, yellows and browns and are without leaves, giving them a ÔpetrifiedÕ, fossil-like appearance, their branches and twigs extending up towards the top of the painting where the sky can be seen behind them.   The trees all have quite narrow trunks and the one in the right foreground has exposed roots. 

In the centre of the painting is a tree lying on its side; it seems to have fallen by the stream.  The trunk appears to have been cut back and seven small branches grow upwards from the remaining trunk.  It is painted in greens, which gives it a mossy appearance.

Behind the trees and stream on the right of the painting is a green, grassy bank with a rocky outcrop behind it.  The grassy bank has light shining on it.  The darker outcrop, which extends nearly to the top of the picture, is a grey-brown colour suggesting that it is in shadow.  The outcrop is capped by a type of climbing plant painted in greens and blues with white highlights on the far right side. From the lower part of the outcrop, which is near the centre of the picture, two trees are growing out and the branches of a hidden tree protrude above them.

Behind the trees on the left is a bank of dark vegetation, in tones of brown.  Beyond this, the left hand half of the painting is in sunshine: there is a hill with scree along its crest. The top of the hill is just over half way up the painting.  The scree is shown in blue greys, brown greys and pinks.  Nestled below the scree is a white cottage and in front of this, running down the hill is an area of vegetation shown in yellows, peach, mauve, pinks, greens, greys and blues which blend together to give a delicate, soft, muted colour.

Towards the end of the valley, in the centre of the painting is another pale coloured building, its gable end facing the viewer.

A tiny expanse of turquoise sea, with a sharp horizon, appears between the side of the hill and the second building, slightly left of the centre of the painting.  The sea provides a focus, drawing the viewerÕs eye along the valley.   The sky above is very pale blue, getting slightly darker towards the top of the painting.  There are just a few white and grey wispy clouds.

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